Deadly Magic
by Darle78
Summary: Vin, a power-hungry vampire, seeks to be an Infinitis, a vampire-witch hybrid believed to be extinct. Indestructible, with magical abilities, the Infinitis make other creatures fall to their knees, begging for mercy. To become one, Vin must drain a powerful witch and bind her essence to him. He even has a witch in mind, Lexi Brighton, but Vin's rival, Connor threatens his plans.
1. Chapter 1

DEADLY MAGIC

(Magic Trilogy Book I)

by

Mande' Davis

It's always about blood, because there's magic in blood.

Chapter 1

_My mother once told me the Fates saw and manipulated the future, but they also meddled in people's lives. Boy, was she right. They seemed to enjoy tormenting me. Every time I thought they were done, that they'd actually leave me alone, along came another ordeal. How did I get the pleasure of being their punching bag? Guess I'm just lucky, in a cosmic disaster kind of way._

My sanctuary—a hidden meadow, behind the sitting area, where the woods touched the edge of campus—was where I came to be alone, to think, to relax. With everything going on in my life, all the hardships, I'd come to find a moment's peace, but my stillness was disrupted by a noise in the distance—a low rumble. My eyes snapped open, and my heart rate climbed. I sat up and glanced around the field, but there was nothing. The noise was probably some small animal playing in the bushes—nothing to worry about.

I took a deep breath and let my pulse return to baseline, as silky blades of grass brushed my forearms and bare legs. The softness was too luring to refuse. I sank into it, stretching out on my back in the middle of the meadow.

I gazed at the ancient oak trees that towered overhead like sentinels and bordered the meadow, then closed my eyes again, making it easier to hear all the sounds around me—ignoring one sense to heighten the others. The delicate trills of songbirds acted like auditory Valium. My muscles went slack and my breathing deepened, as tranquility returned.

A loud snarl ripped through the meadow. _Not _a small animal.

I bolted into a sitting position and scanned the edge of the woods but still didn't find the source. The tempo of my heartbeat increased, and sweat beaded above my upper lip, as I scrutinized the field. The growl grew louder, echoing around the field, making the origin difficult to locate. It didn't matter if I could see the beast or not. The animal could see me, which made tearing for the path to the sitting area a no-go. Whatever was making the threatening rumble approached from my left.

A wolf. The animal stood just inside the wall of live oaks. My hand went to my throat, and I clamped my mouth shut, choking off the gasp that had parted my lips. The creature was huge, with thick gray fur, and it tracked me.

_I can't believe this is happening._ Over the years, hikers have seen wolves deep in the woods but not this close to campus. The wolf eased forward, slowly stalking.

Running wouldn't do any good. The wolf would overtake me in a few steps, but given the opportunity, I'd still try. I eased into a crouch and locked eyes with the animal, as I attempted to assert my dominance. The beast tilted its head but didn't stop advancing.

I slowed my breathing with much effort, as my heart beat vigorously against my chest, like it might explode right through it. The animal was still coming toward me, teeth bared, hackles raised, and its head down.

My muscles tensed, ready to run, but I couldn't move. I only had seconds before the wolf reached striking distance.

My fingernails bit into my thighs, as I waited for the inevitable. There was no escape. The wolf was faster, designed to run down prey. I'd never been a great runner, so with rapid breaths, I counted down the seconds left in my incomplete life.

The wolf's muscles bunched as it eased onto its haunches, preparing to attack. A primal light danced in its intense brown eyes and the animal appeared to smile. I panted wildly. My insides tightened and popped, like a spring wound too tight. The hair on the back of my neck rose as ice froze my spine, rendering it immobile. I stared at the ground, waiting, not wanting to see the deathblow.

It never came.

I glanced up. The beast stood motionless, its head cocked to the side, peering deep into the brush, like it was listening to something.

A black wolf appeared at the edge of the woods. My heart rate spiked and a cold burn filled my chest. I'd forgotten wolves hunted in packs.

The black wolf was the alpha. His commanding stance and the way the gray wolf regarded him made it evident.

My gaze darted around the field, searching for a possible escape, as the biblical story of Jezebel played like a movie in my mind. Granted, she was eaten by dogs but still. I didn't want to die that way. The difference? No one had thrown me from a balcony, which meant I could run.

My adrenaline surged, and I leapt to my feet, sprinting with every ounce of will I possessed.

I cleared about twenty yards, as images of wild dogs tearing Jezebel apart flashed through my mind. The wolves were closing in behind me—their paws pounding against the ground.

I fell, hands out, scraping my palms on the cobblestone path. As I scrambled to get to my feet, I looked back. The gray wolf howled and sprang, crunching down on my left forearm. A scream rushed from my lungs, as crushing pain radiated up my arm. Then, the beast shook its head. He would rip my arm off if I didn't get free.

I drew my other arm back and punched the wolf in the face, but he wouldn't release. Blood ran down my arm as I kicked repeatedly. The black wolf lunged toward me. My breath tore from my mouth in a deafening shriek. The alpha seized the gray wolf's neck and slammed him against a tree. I scurried backward, my palms scraping against the cobblestones. The black wolf let out a ferocious growl, its lips peeling off its huge teeth, as it loomed over the other wolf. The gray wolf whimpered and slunk off into the woods.

The black wolf swiveled its head in my direction. I held my breath. My zoology professor's voice played in my memory like a tape-recorded lecture. "The alpha will make the kill, taking his portion before he allows the pack to eat."

A broken branch lay in the underbrush beside the path. I snatched it and clutched the end, ready to swing when the black wolf attacked. Nausea knotted my stomach, as the wolf and I watched each other. Its green eyes appeared to study me.

Then it turned and vanished into the woods.

I sat, staring after the animal, waiting for it to leap out at me. I held my weapon in ready position. My arm throbbed, and I needed to apply pressure to the bite, but I wouldn't throw down the branch. I inhaled deeply and tried to calm my live-wired nerves, then got to my feet and, as swiftly as the slippery way would allow, ran up the path.

I glanced back. No wolves.

At the end of the path, I leapt through the trees, ignoring the branches that scraped my face. When I got to the car, I tossed the tree branch into the sitting area.

I sped away, my arm aching. Blindly, I fumbled in the console and found a wad of napkins, then laid them in my lap and pressed my bleeding arm against them. I wanted to get somewhere safe.

Home.

I didn't understand what had happened. The black wolf had forced the other wolf to retreat. Then it just left. Why hadn't the alpha attacked? All my biology knowledge told me it should have. Instead, the black wolf had protected me. Its behavior was peculiar, almost human.

_Thank God for its peculiarity._

I pulled into my driveway, parked, and ran into the house.

In the bathroom, I assessed my injuries. I had puncture wounds and large tears in my left forearm. I gritted my teeth as I cleaned them with alcohol, then I applied triple antibiotic cream. I needed stitches, a tetanus shot, and antibiotics. Treating rabies was seriously expensive if it wasn't caught early. Plus, there was that unpleasant brain infection it caused.

Not wanting to spend the rest of my life with a virus eating my brain, I called the emergency room where I worked part-time and spoke with Cindy. She told me to come in. There were advantages to working in a hospital, like free treatment.

After my quick trip to the emergency room, and three seriously painful shots, I glanced at the envelope lying on the passenger seat. _Might as well get it over with._

I ripped the envelope open, unfolded the letter, and quickly read it. _Shit._ I crumpled the foreclosure notice in my fist, rolled down the car window, and threw out the note. _Littering? Who cares? I'm about to be homeless. _I put the car in drive and cruised past Evington School of Medicine, ignoring my throbbing head. _Stress headaches blow._ They never responded to pain meds, and lately, I had more of them.

Students filed out of the main lecture hall, smiling and laughing as they headed to their cars. I wanted to be one of those students, needed to be one of them. I wanted a better life for my brother, Aiden, and me. Becoming a medical student was the first step.

We had debts: my undergraduate loans and the mortgage on our small house. Aiden had used the house as collateral to start his own construction business, which closed after six months. The house was in both our names though, so as long as we didn't miss anymore payments, the foreclosure threats would stop. If we could hang on until I graduated we'd be set, our money problems over. But four years was a long time, and I hadn't even been accepted yet. At that point, we could refinance the mortgage, based on my decreased income, which would lower our payments significantly, and we'd be able to catch up on the missed payments.

I gazed at the students' smiling faces, as my fingernails clicked against the steering wheel. Getting into medical school wasn't simply a dream. It was the answer to all our problems. A student loan, which every medical student received, would cover my tuition, and room and board. I'd use the housing money to make the monthly mortgage payment, and I'd pay off the mortgage after I graduated. During school, I could work on the weekends, then save the weekdays, after lectures, for studying. Luckily, I had a good memory and wouldn't have to study much.

I slumped in my seat, as the last of the students disappeared into the parking garage, then drove home.

_Please let me get in. _

I remembered the mailbox. I'd been avoiding finding it empty. Look where that had gotten me.

I walked to the end of my driveway, like I'd done every day for the past month. The goal I'd been aiming for my entire scholastic career, the thing that would end our financial worries, might be just a few steps away. I broke into a sprint, quickly closing the distance to the mailbox.

My shaking hands opened the door, and there, in the shadow, near the back of the mailbox, was a large envelope.

_Is a large envelope good_?

I held the letter, as if it might break. I wasn't certain I could even open it. What if a rejection letter was inside, telling me what an idiot I was and that I'd end up serving burgers at the local Sonic for the rest of my life?

_God, if it is, we're going to be homeless. _

The front door banged shut, but I couldn't take my eyes off the envelope. My fingers caressed my name on the address label. I couldn't open it.

Suddenly, the letter was snatched from my grasp. I whirled around to face the thief.

"This the one we've been waitin' for?" Aiden's southern accent was more pronounced than mine. He'd never been to college, but bossing around construction workers didn't require perfect elocution. His sky-blue eyes beamed at me from under his auburn hair, which was getting too long. He picked at the envelope's seal. A corner of his lip curled up, as he tauntingly waved the white envelope in my face. I tried to grab it but couldn't.

Rushing him wouldn't have worked because he would've blocked me with his enormous shoulders. Jumping on him would've been the equivalent of a house cat pouncing on a lion. Surprise was my only option.

I sprung forward and seized the letter, jerking it free from his grip. I tore open the envelope, slid out the piece of paper, and read it aloud.

_Miss Brighton,_

_ We are pleased to inform you of your acceptance to Evington School of Medicine. Your acceptance letter and tuition deposit, fourteen thousand dollars, are due by July 23__rd__._

_Sincerely,_

_Dr. S. H. Anderson_

_Dean Evington School of Medicine_

My hand flew up and covered my gapping mouth. I couldn't believe it. Just to be sure, I read the letter again, silently. Aiden wrenched me into a bear hug, lifting me off the ground, spinning us around in a circle. When he set me down, I wrapped my arms around his middle and laid my head against his chest.

"You know, I couldn't have done this without you."

"Oh yeah. I'm the man." He thrust out his chest and brushed off one shoulder.

I nearly choked on the giggle I stifled.

I put the letter back in the envelope for safekeeping. Where was I going to get fourteen thousand dollars?

"In the morning, I'll take this to the bank and have the mortgage refinanced."

"Did you have to bring that up?" He ran his hands through his hair. "I told you I'd figure something out."

He looked so young when he worried. After our parents were murdered, he'd been forced to grow up fast and take on too much responsibility. He was only twenty-eight, and he'd been responsible for everything for the past ten years. He'd kept a roof over our heads and food on the table. He was my rock. No sister loved a brother more.

"I have a present for you." He took my hand and towed me up the driveway toward our small, cream-colored brick house.

"I told you no presents."

"Was I supposed to listen?" He smirked over his shoulder at me, one eyebrow cocked.

"That was the idea."

Our house was nicer than the other houses in our neighborhood, thanks to Aiden's handiwork. He'd leveled the foundation, repainted the window and doorframes, and patched the leaks in the roof. The house was tiny and outdated, but it was all we could afford. My part-time job at the hospital and Aiden's construction job—he'd been working for a general contractor since his self-owned venture folded—didn't generate an enormous income.

In the kitchen, he handed me a folded piece of cloth. "It was Mom's."

I unfolded the soft blue material. Our mother's silver charm bracelet was nestled inside. I couldn't remember ever seeing her without it.

"I've been looking for this for ages." My thumb gently stroked the silver links. The first few years after she was murdered, I heard its jingling sound in my head as I fell asleep each night, like a haunted lullaby.

"It was at the bottom of a box, inside a glass jar full of sand. Found it when I was cleanin' out the storage locker."

"In sand? Odd hiding place."

Aiden shrugged.

Five charms hung from the bracelet. A crystal drop, the color of blue topaz—my birthstone. Next to it, a garnet-colored stone—Aiden's birthstone. Also a silver crescent moon, a crown, and a star-shaped quartz stone, which had my undivided attention. I remembered fingering the stone when I was very young, as my mother rocked me to sleep.

The memory was so vivid, and when I handled the star, a tingle crept up my arm. It was like someone touched me.

I put the bracelet on and gave my wrist a little twist, so I could hear the familiar tinkling. _I'm never losing this again._

"Thanks." I smacked Aiden's shoulder playfully. He ducked away, holding his arm like I'd actually inflicted some physical harm. I rolled my eyes.

"What the hell happened to _your_ arm?" He'd never been the most observant person.

"I cut myself cleaning the attic." The lie was easier than the truth, which would've invoked a full-on, big brother, protective fit.

"You've got the worst luck." He shook his head, then headed toward the bathroom.

What would our parents have thought about me going to medical school? Of course they'd have been proud. I could see my mother crying and my father grinning wildly as he called everyone he knew. This was one of those happy moments I wished they could've shared with us.

My chest ached as an emptiness slid into place inside me, a void so profound that once it established its hold, I felt hollow. My brother tried to make everything in my life line-up perfectly, his way of compensating for the absence of our parents. It'd never worked. The depression medications the psychiatrists had prescribed hadn't helped either and, eventually, I stopped taking them.

Over time, I simply accepted that something, some integral part of me, was missing, and the Fates were keeping me in the dark.

_Damn them._

Saturday mornings, I worked in the emergency room at the county hospital. I served as a patient care tech or a glorified gofer.

Often by noon, I'd been thrown up on twice and had performed CPR once. It wasn't a glamorous job, but we needed the money, and the experience was indispensable. Besides, it was the only job that would allow me to set my own schedule, which meant it was conducive with medical school.

Most medical students didn't work, but that would never be an option for me.

Aiden was sitting on the couch, watching some ballgame on TV, when I entered the living room.

"How was work?" He muted the TV with the remote.

"They threw me a surprise party, in the break room, to congratulate me." I sat my gifts on the coffee table, making sure to place the small rectangular stethoscope box where Aiden would see it.

"Wow. They actually got it for you." He grabbed the box, opened the lid, and extracted the black stethoscope, then did what most people do. He placed the earpieces into his ears backward and tried to listen to his own heartbeat.

"It works." His eyes widened like a child's.

I took the earpieces out of his ears and put them in correctly. "Works better this way."

I left him playing with my stethoscope, while I went to the car and retrieved the laptop Dr. Anderson had given me.

I'd worked with Dr. Anderson for four years. He always let me do small procedures, like suturing lacerations or stapling gaping head wounds. Once, he even allowed me to debride a severe burn. He encouraged me when I needed and lectured me when I deserved, like a father would. Bad thing was, he made me miss my father more.

When I came in with the large box, Aiden dropped the stethoscope. "Oh man. A MacBook Air?"

He reached for the computer, but I tucked it under my left arm. "Swear to me you _didn't_ tell them I needed one."

I'd been putting aside a few dollars every two weeks to buy a laptop, but I only had four hundred dollars, and classes started in four months. With all the specified configurations I'd need for online schoolwork, the cheapest laptop was over twelve hundred dollars.

I wouldn't have saved enough.

"Well… I might've hinted." His face flushed, and he wouldn't look me in the eye.

"How could you? I'm not some charity case." I stamped my foot, and my free hand balled into a fist. "I might as well have gone up to Dr. Anderson and begged."

"I said I hinted." He stood, peering down at me, his eyes narrow. "He called and asked if you had one. I told him you didn't."

I sat the laptop box on the floor, put both my fists on my hips, and glared at him. "If I find out you're lying, I'll shave your head in your sleep. A reverse Mohawk would look good on you."

He cocked an eyebrow. "You wouldn't dare."

"Try me." I crossed my arms over my chest. I wasn't known for threatening, or even standing up to people, but I was willing to make an exception for Aiden.

He put his right palm over his heart. "I swear I didn't. I wouldn't dare anger the fire-haired midget."

_Ass. I'm not that short. _

"Sarcasm will only piss her off faster." I picked up my box and went to see about dinner. I could hear his low chuckle as I entered the kitchen.

I placed a pot of water on the stove and waited for the water to boil. The gray wolf's eyes flashed in my memory. I remembered the deep vibrating growl that had resonated from its thick throat. I thought of its bite and the pain it had caused. My arm throbbed. The memory was so clear and the sound from the beast so loud that the hairs on my arms rose.

A scratching sound came from somewhere behind me.

I glanced over my shoulder, then turned around, facing the gray beast that stood a few feet away.

"Oh no."

The gray wolf scraped its paw against the linoleum, its lips peeling off its teeth as it snarled, then snapped at me. I clutched the counter behind me, flattening myself against it. My body shook, and my screams caught in my throat. A knife lay next to the sink, but there was no way I could reach it. The wolf was between it and me.

_How'd the wolf get in?_ I told myself this wasn't possible. It was just my imagination. The wolf _wasn't_ standing in my kitchen.

The animal snapped at me again, and I yelped, closing my eyes tight. I counted to ten.

I opened them, and the wolf had vanished. I slid down the counter, onto the floor, in a useless heap of quivering flesh. I was having a mental breakdown, hallucinations being the first sign.__

I tried to stand, but my shaky legs wouldn't support me. I fell back against the counter and banged my head. "Ow."

Aiden ran into the kitchen. "What's goin' on?"

I rubbed my head. The truth was embarrassing, but it was all I had floating around in my scared witless gray matter. "Just my overactive imagination. That's all."

"What was it this time? Ghost out the corner of your eye or a creepy sound?" A wry grin stretched across his face.

My chin trembled. "Hellhound."

"A what?"

"Highly aggressive wolf."

"A wolf?" He extended a rough hand down to me.

I took the offer and found myself on my feet immediately. My knees felt like Jell-O, so I backed against the counter again. I'd always been a scaredy-cat, but the wolf had seemed so real.

I picked at my bandage, as Aiden laughed his way back into the living room. Water hit the stove burner behind me, hissing loudly, making me jump. I snatched the pot off the burner and stirred in the macaroni noodles. My hands still trembled.

The gray wolf's image was soldered to my mind's eye, so there was no hope of forgetting him. I tried picturing rabbits, squirrels, even a waterfall, but the wolf ate the rabbits, the squirrels, and lapped greedily from the waterfall.

A scratch sounded at the backdoor.

I screamed and dropped the stirring spoon. It hit the stove top with a metallic clang.

_Oh God. Not again. _This time, I didn't dare look. I just kept telling myself it was a hallucination, that I was going crazy.

I wished it had been something that simple. Crazy could be alleviated with medication. My ailment had no cures.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

I dropped my folder of financial papers. They fluttered to the floor of Evington Community Bank like white leaves.

_So much for organization._

Everyone in the bank stopped and stared. A guy by the counter came over and helped me pick up my papers. He was tall, with wide shoulders, and sandy blond hair.

"Thanks." _Dang, he's hot. _My face felt like it was on fire. Had to have a klutz moment right in front of him. _Great._

I walked to the receptionist's desk, my folder pressed against my chest. "I'm here to see a loan officer."

"This way, please." She ushered me into a small office.

I was glad to be away from the smirks and stares. The dark haired banker behind the ornate wooden desk had a stiff smile on his face as he regarded me. I handed him my folder, then took a seat and waited.

Thirty minutes of paper shuffling later, he closed the folder and looked up.

"Miss Brighton, I'm sorry, but we won't be able to approve a loan for your tuition amount." He clicked his pen away and tucked it into the breast pocket of his Armani suit. Had he ever had money problems?

_Probably not._

"Then what am I suppose to do?" My knuckles turned white as I gripped the stuffed arms of the chair I sat in. "I can't take out another loan against the house. So, what do you suggest?"

"I'm afraid I don't have a suggestion at this time."

My mouth went slack. How could they tell me no? We hadn't missed a mortgage payment in three months, since we'd refinanced the house. And medical students _always_ got tuition loans.

I stood, my acceptance letter in hand, but holding it now felt like a slap in the face.

He gave me the folder. "I'm very sorry."

I walked out of the office.

In the parking lot, I sat in my car, crying. It wasn't fair, and there was no solution. Not unless we had some rich uncle on his deathbed, who was leaving us everything.

A sudden movement outside caught my eye. I wiped my tears away with the back of my hand. Tiny droplets of rain coated the windshield, as I glanced out into the thick bushes encircling the bank's parking lot. An onyx wolf, nearly hidden by the bushes, watched me. _What the hell?_

My hand eased toward the ignition. Fear kept my gaze locked on the wolf. Why was it here, in the middle of downtown Evington? I turned the key, but the engine didn't start.

I looked at the ignition. _Yep, right key._ I turned it again. Nothing.

_ Oh, not now. Please start, you damn clunker. _

I glanced back at the wolf, but all I saw were trees and bushes. I turned the key again, and the engine cranked. I sped home, trying to forget the bank's rejection and the wolf.

Over the next three month, I didn't see a single wolf, nor did I experience anymore hallucinations, which was a relief. Desperately needing money, I'd spent my time working every shift I could in the emergency room. I'd cleaned out the storage locker we'd been renting and gone through Mom's things. I'd sold her Irish porcelain on eBay and thrown out nearly a hundred bottles of what I believed were spices. I'd saved two thousand dollars, but I was still twelve thousand short of the amount needed to reserve my seat for school. I had four days left to raise the funds, no clue how to do it, and I still hadn't told Aiden.

I paced in the living room, fiddling with my bracelet, causing it to make the soft metallic tinkling sound. It'd become an extension of my own flesh—I only removed it to shower. Hearing it jingle reminded me my mother was near, in spirit. At least, that's what I told myself. I wished she were here now, to tell me what to do.

I flopped onto the couch and pulled my knees against my body.

The banker I'd talked to never gave me a single suggestion, and I didn't know who else to ask. The only way I was going to school was if I did something horrible, like rob a bank or sell my body. Neither of those was going to happen.

The doorbell rang, and the sound echoed around the quiet house. No one ever came to the front door. I got up and peeked through the peephole, but there wasn't anyone there.

I eased the door open, stepped onto the porch, and glanced around. A letter lay in the rocking chair, next to the door. With a gold embossed seal, the envelope appeared very official. Was it from the medical school? Probably delivered by messenger.

The wind picked up and the trees rustled. Something big moved in the bushes between our house and the neighbor's. It was black.

_The wolf. _

My heart rate escalated. I snatched the letter, ran inside, and locked the door. I peered out the living room window but saw no wolf.

Another hallucination? Or had he really been there?

The letter in my hand was no hallucination.

_Oh shit. _My hand trembled as I gripped it. _They're giving my seat away. _

Without the student loan, I hadn't been able to make the fourteen thousand dollar deposit, to hold my seat, and now everything I'd worked for, everything we had, was being taken away.

I opened the envelope and slid out the paper, as I fought back tears.

I read silently.

_Miss Brighton,_

_The W Foundation has selected you, from the entering class of Evington Medical School, to receive The W Scholarship. You were chosen based on your undergraduate academic performance. This scholarship will cover all your financial needs. We wish you the best of luck in your endeavor. _

_Sincerely,_

_Robert Jensen_

_President of The W Foundation_

My hand covered my open mouth. It made no sense. There were only two private foundations in Mississippi that gave scholarships to medical students, and I hadn't applied to either of them.

"What 'cha got?" Aiden studied me as he entered the living room. "What's the matter?"

I shook the letter at him.

"What's it say?" Aiden reached for the paper, but I crushed it to my chest.

"I got a full scholarship." My eyes were pinned open as I stared blankly at him. I couldn't believe it. It was like the Fates were having pity on me, but I knew that wasn't possible.

"That's great." He frowned. "What's the matter?"

"I didn't apply for a private scholarship." I chewed my lip.

"Maybe someone nominated you?"

"Maybe." I didn't know anyone at the college. So who'd have nominated me?

I contacted The W Foundation to find out. Apparently, the selection process was confidential. The W Foundation was formed a month prior and had randomly selected me from the entering medical class, based on academic record and need.

I mailed a thank you letter to the return address on my envelope, but it didn't seem like enough.

A week later, the money was in my account. Three weeks after that, I paid my tuition, made a mortgage payment, and started medical school.

I was emotionally mixed up, like an unsolved Rubik's cube, the first day of medical school. I smoothed out my navy blue dress with my shaky hands and scrutinized my reflection in the mirror over my dresser. I looked like a kid playing dress up in her mother's clothes, felt like one, too.

In the car, I smacked the radio, which was on the fritz again. I really needed the music's calming influence, but the Fates had stepped in and hijacked my tunes.

I parked in the parking garage and walked across the glass breezeway to the medical school. There were only fifty people in the auditorium. The majority were guys around my age—twenty-one.

There was one other girl. She was willowy with long golden hair that hung down her back—it reminded me of corn silk. Her features appeared to have been perfectly sculpted out of alabaster, and her dazzling peridot-colored eyes were accented with thick eyelashes. Venus in the flesh, that was who she was. She could go her entire life on her beauty alone but obviously chose not to. I had to respect her for that.

The room went silent as the instructor turned on her computer, the PowerPoint screen lighting up. The woman behind the podium stood with hands clasped behind her back, her chin high. She had shoulder length, brown hair and absolutely no smile. The screen glowing above her head read, "Dr. Nash".

"Welcome. I see most of us are here. The next four years will be packed with more information than one person can retain, so find a study partner."

The first thirty minutes of lecture centered on requirements and rules, then Dr. Nash jumped straight into Basic Biochemistry. My worst subject. With eyes squinted to see the screen and my jaw clenched, I scratched out notes as quickly as I could.

I'd only gotten about half the notes, when she turned off her Power Point presentation. Not good. I needed to find a better system or I'd certainly fail.

After class was over, I bent down to pick up my backpack, and when I stood, I looked directly into the face of the golden girl.

"Intense lecture. I'm not certain I got all the notes down." Her voice was a high-pitched hum, like wet crystal when the rim was rubbed, and her eyes glistened. They reminded me of peridot gems, with flecks of amber settled around the centers and outer edges.

"I was hoping you would be my study partner?" She smiled.

"Um… Sure." I returned her smile. Two people taking notes and sharing them was definitely a better method.

"Oh, how rude of me. I'm Izabell Weatherstar. Iza."

"Lexi Brighton." We shook hands. Her skin was soft, like cashmere.

Iza sat her bookbag on the floor. "I was delighted to see another girl. I'd been afraid I'd be the only one."

"Yeah, me, too." As I twisted my bracelet around my wrist, its silver charms rubbed together, causing a soft ringing that filled the room.

"Maybe we could grab coffee tomorrow and go over our notes?" She scratched her cell number onto a scrap of paper and handed it to me. "Text me."

I wasn't about to tell her I didn't like coffee. "I don't have a cell phone."

"Really?" Her brows rose slowly as realization hit her. "You're the girl who received The W Scholarship."

I swallowed hard. I hadn't wanted anyone to know. "Yeah."

"My brothers started The W Foundation just this year."

_Oh my God. I finally know who to thank. _

"Well, please tell them I greatly appreciate it. I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for the scholarship."

Iza nodded, her corn silk hair bouncing. She reached into her pants' pocket, took out her iPhone, and flicked it to life. "Let's plan on coffee tomorrow then, after class. See you."

She texted, her concentration on her phone, as she slung her bag over her shoulder and walked out.

On the way home, I stopped to fill up the tank, pulling into the gas station just off campus. I was running on fumes, and the vacuum effect had sealed the gas cap in place. I wrenched it with a curse, my knuckles blanching from the force, but it wouldn't budge.

_Stupid cap._

Since I'd done this before, I had a process. If swearing at the cap didn't work, move on to step two: use the pliers. But the pliers were in the trunk, so I marched my sorry ass to the back of the car.

"Need some help, Red?" a deep voice asked from beside me.

I glanced up at a tall guy with black hair. He was gorgeous—eyes the color of cognac amber and a killer smile that threatened to arrest my breathing. "I don't think you can."

I continued searching for the pliers. The faster I got home, the sooner I could get my head into my Biochem book and try to salvage some notes.

"Really?"

There was a little hiss. I straightened.

He placed the gas cap in my hand. "You're welcome."

I tried not to stare, but it was hard not to. _Damn. He's nice to look at, and strong._

"Um, thanks." I watched, mesmerized, as he strolled away, mounted a chromed out, green motorcycle, then flew out of the station.

I stared at the gas cap in my hand and smiled. It wasn't every day Prince Charming came to my rescue. Okay, maybe he wasn't Prince Charming, unless the prince wore a black leather jacket and boots.

After I regained my wits, I filled my tank and headed home. I committed everything about Mr. Motorcycle to memory. Not that I expected to see him again, but this was one of those memories I didn't want to forget.

Evidently, the Fates had no intention of letting me forget him either, because he had a staring role in my dream that night.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Dr. Nash's voice was a monotone in my ear. I hadn't slept well, and my eyelids weighed a hundred pounds.

"Lexi." Iza's voice invaded my dream.

I jumped in my seat, and my eyes snapped open. As I rubbed the back of my neck, I glanced around the auditorium, hoping I hadn't drawn any attention.

No such luck.

Iza leaned over in her chair, her forehead wrinkled. "Are you all right?"

"Um… Yeah."

She looked as if she didn't believe me, which was dead on.

I'd been dreaming about Mr. Motorcycle for four weeks, since I'd met him. Now my dreams were escaping the night, sneaking into the daytime, manifesting at inopportune times.

"She's laying out the exam. Pay attention." Iza pointed to the page number in her book, so I could catch up.

"Got it." I dropped my pen. It rolled off my desk onto the floor and two aisles up, making more noise than necessary. Everyone turned to stare at me, and Dr. Nash stopped lecturing.

I slumped down in my chair. I wanted to crawl under it but managed to stay put.

"Is something wrong?" Iza didn't turn her face toward me.

"I need a pen."

She reached into her bookbag and handed me one. Finally, everyone turned back to Dr. Nash.

I had to get it together. Daydreaming wouldn't get me through medical school.

After five hours of grueling lecture, we strolled into the parking garage. Iza hit a button on her remote keyless entry, and the lights on a bright blue Mercedes convertible roadster flashed. "You want to tell me why you're dozing off in lecture?"

I was too embarrassed to tell her I'd been daydreaming about a guy I didn't even know. "Just tired, I guess."

"Maybe I should take you home."

We'd spent every night for a month studying and rewriting notes at the library. I hadn't gotten in bed before midnight since we'd started our study group. "No, we'll get behind."

"You sure?"

I nodded.

She backed out of the parking space with more thrust than necessary, then gave me a mischievous grin. "Hold on."

The powerful engine accelerated. Wind whipped my hair behind me, as we flew down the road.

"How about some music?" She punched a button on the steering wheel, and the gothic rock riffs of my favorite band—Immortal Evermore—blared through the stereo system.

"Awesome band." I drummed my fingers on the dash in rhythm to the music, while Iza sang.

"I saw them in concert last year. Oldest brother took me for my birthday."

"How many brothers do you have?"

"Three. I'm the baby, which they _never_ let me forget." Her lips pinched together.

"I bet your parents appreciate them looking out for you."

Iza turned down the stereo. "My parents died when I was seven."

My mouth went dry, and my lips tightened into a frown. We'd been studying together everyday, even on weekends, but we hadn't talked about our families before.

There was a cold, burning sensation in my chest, like my heart had been sprayed with liquid nitrogen, as I recalled being told my parents were dead. Children shouldn't know about death, not at the tender age of six. Yet, we had both experienced death prematurely.

"I'm sorry." I understood her pain better than anyone, but _sorry_ was all I could offer. It was the only sentiment that had mattered to me.

"I dealt with it a long time ago." She went quiet. Her mouth pressed into a hard line.

"How'd they die, if you don't mind me asking?"

"Home invasion in the middle of the night."

Chills pricked the nap of my neck. What were the chances?

"My memories are foggy. My brothers' memories are very vivid, and they had nightmares for years. I was lucky."

"You were home?" My hands knotted in my lap. How horrific. Had she heard their last breaths? Had she seen them die?

"Yes, we all were." She parked and shut off the engine.

I'd always imagined that my mother's death was quick and painless, because that was what I'd been told. I knew nothing else. But Iza knew, had probably heard, maybe had seen, her mother's pain. No words could take that torment away.

_She's stronger than she looks, and I'm a pathetic mess._

We were both quiet, as we entered the coffee shop, The Grind, and sat at a table near the window.

"Surviving isn't always ideal." Iza's voice was flat, devoid of emotion, and ghosts danced behind her eyes. "What the intruders did to my brothers was brutal. Justin, my oldest brother, has symbols carved into his arms, reminders of the thing he'd most like to forget. Riley has a brand on his shoulder, and Connor…"

She stopped talking as the waitress approached.

I ordered a strawberry smoothie, and Iza asked for a caramel mocha latte with extra whipped cream.

The waitress left.

"It took years of therapy to get past the fear ingrained in me from that night. My brothers dealt with it in their own ways." The corner of Iza's mouth turned up.

_That's funny? _Obviously, there was some inside joke concerning her brothers' therapy.

Her autobiography was more tragic than mine. She'd been shown the darker side of life, and it'd changed her, but it hadn't broken her. If only I had her resilience.

"What about your parents?" She sipped her latte.

I fiddled with the straw in my smoothie. I didn't want to answer. My wounds still felt fresh, barely knitted together. I only managed to keep them closed with a patchwork of denial and avoidance. But how could I avoid the question without being rude?

I couldn't.

I opened and closed my mouth three times before I actually spoke. "They're dead. Died when I was six."

A myriad of emotions glided across her face, shock the most prominent. She reached over and took my hand. "Oh, Lexi. We _are_ a pair."

I slid my hand out from under hers. Touch could pull emotions right out of a person, and I was dangerously close to tears already.

"I'm sorry." She folded her hands in her lap. "You have an older brother?"

"Aiden. He was thirteen." I picked at the napkin on the table in front of me. "He was home. I was at a friend's house."

"How did it happen?"

Her stare made my skin feel heavy. "Home invasion. I don't have the details."

"So who raised you?"

"We lived in an orphanage about a year then with foster families until Aiden turned eighteen."

She drew in a sharp breath. "You mean your family didn't take you in?"

"We don't have any other family. My parents were only children, and our last grandparent died the year before."

Saying it out loud made me realize how abandoned I felt and how much I resented having to live with those horrible foster families. I knew it was written on my face. Hiding feelings wasn't something I was good at, but I hoped she wouldn't notice.

Her peridot-colored eyes filled with unshed tears. I looked away.

"Lexi, I understand. It's just my brothers and me, us against everything and everyone."

The conversation _had_ to stop. It was too much tension applied to barely-healing scars. Tears viscously stung my eyes. The moisture shoved against my eyelids, trying to force its way out. I couldn't cry. She'd think I was a complete head case.

"Lexi?" she whispered.

I stared out the window, avoiding her sympathetic gaze. My palms pressed against the tabletop. Her hand slid across the table, making contact with my left wrist. "Is this your mother's?"

I snatched my hand as tears fell, the soft tinkling of my mother's bracelet filling the air. I pushed away from the table. My chair crashed to the floor, then I bolted out the door.

"Wait."

I didn't. I couldn't.

I ran fast and hard, tears streaming down my face. I wasn't sure where I was going, but it didn't matter. I had to get away from her.

It wasn't Iza's fault. I was usually good at keeping the loneliness suppressed. I'd been doing it for years, but she'd called my bluff without even meaning to.

I didn't slow until I saw the small clearing near the school, where the woods touched the edge of campus. It was a quiet getaway, my sanctuary. I eased through the stone archway and grazed my fingers over the columns as I entered the sitting area.

Blue flowers and aggressive-looking vines outlined the small clearing. Concrete tables and benches sat deserted. Worn cobblestones, nearly concealed by overgrowth, were at the back of the area, and tree branches grew together across the entrance to a path the wilderness attempted to reclaim.

I hadn't been down the hidden footpath since the wolf attack. I flicked the trigger of my pepper spray, which I now carried religiously in my pocket. I wasn't going to let a random wolf attack stop me from visiting my haven when I needed its calming effects, and I was ready in case he returned.

_If I give into my fear, I'm a pathetic mess AND a coward._ I swallowed the swelling mass in my throat. _I'm no chicken._

I snapped off several limbs to clear the way. The cracks echoed loudly through the quiet. The remaining branches scraped my arms and snagged my hair, as I pushed through them and stepped onto the path.

Slippery moss covered stones under my feet, forcing me to walk slowly, adroitly, as the path twisted into the woods. Tree branches crossed overhead, forming a canopy of leaves that blocked most of the sunlight, allowing shadows to creep all around. I gripped my pepper spray tighter and ignored the shadows.

With cautious steps, I inched toward the end of the path, where golden light assaulted my eyes. My hands shielded them, as I stepped out of the darkness, but they adjusted quickly. The beautiful field stretched out like a green sea. The breeze picked up, and grass rippled like waves. I waded into the center, then turned, taking in the panorama.

The sentinel-like oak trees enclosing the field were comforting—offering privacy from the world. I sat under a huge lone willow tree, then put my head on my knees. What was Iza thinking? Most likely, that I was a manic-depressive nut.

_Maybe I am. _

I still missed my parents terribly. The psychologists said I emotionally relived their deaths every day. All I knew was I felt internally broken and perpetually lonely.

Aiden didn't understand. He'd told me to try building model cars. It had worked for him, but it was something he and our father had done together. I'd tried to remember a hobby I'd shared with my mom, but I couldn't. She was always busy.

Maybe there was something wrong with my brain. Aiden said I needed to find _something_ that would make everything click for me. Only problem, I was beginning to believe that _thing_ didn't exist.

I had things I was grateful for. Stuff that made me feel accomplished and fortunate, but those feelings were fleeting. Accomplishments couldn't bring my parents back. They were just distractions.

I took several slow, deep breaths and dried my eyes. There was no time in medical school for blubbering. So, with a final cleansing breath, I locked my feelings back into their tiny box.

"Hey, Red."

I jumped at the sound of the male voice. I looked up, my mouth gapping. With my head on my knees, I hadn't seen him approaching.

It was _him_. Mr. Motorcycle, and here I was sniveling.

"Didn't mean to startle you. Everything ok?"

I wiped my face, then swiped my moist palms down my jeans. He was even tall when he kneeled. He had distinct features, and his reddish-brown eyes were like pools of cognac amber that I wanted to fall into. Black hair hung to his jawline, which was straight and strong. His dark T-shirt clung to his sinewy chest, and his jeans hugged all the right places. He was powerfully built and much more beguiling in real life.

"I'm fine." I lied. I slid up the tree, until I stood on my feet, my back pressed against the willows trunk. I reached around to my can of pepper spray. He might've been the protagonist featured in my recurrent dream, but he was a stranger, and I wasn't taking any chances.

"If this is what you call fine, I'd hate to see you when you're not." He motioned to the can behind my back. "And you don't need that."

"So says the stranger who wandered up."

"I mean no harm. I was passing through, not stalking."

"Stalking?" My eyebrows rose. Why was he talking about stalking?

"We met the other day." He cocked his head to the side, and his eyes narrowed. "At the gas station?"

"I remember." Boy, did I remember. If he knew about my dreams, he'd have accused me of stalking him. "You loosened my gas cap."

"So what are you doing out here?" He sat, reclined onto his elbow, and picked at the grass.

Man, he was beautiful. Calling a guy beautiful sounded wrong, very un-masculine, but in his case, it was the only suitable word.

"I needed a moment."

"With such a pretty face, you shouldn't cry." He leaned forward, placed a finger under my chin, and lifted my gaze. "You need to stop acting like a child."

I shook his touch away, and my hand clenched around the pepper spray. "Just who do you think you are? You walk up, scaring me half to death, then you insult me. Nice manners."

"Vincent Archer, and you are?" He held out his hand.

I didn't shake it.

He retracted his hand. "Speaking of manners."

"Lexi."

"Lovely name for an exquisite girl." A smile curled the corners of his lips.

"I'm not sure I should be talking to you." My thumb flicked the safety on and off of the pepper spray. We were alone in a field surrounded by woods.

"I haven't done anything to prove I can't be trusted," he said in a steady monotone, like he was trying to calm me. Or hypnotize me. Either way, his sultry voice was irresistible.

His eyes, those lips, and that voice, I couldn't resist. "No, you haven't."

My muscles relaxed as some, not all, of the tension left my body.

"I was hiking through the woods." He gestured to the edge of the trees. "I saw you sitting here, crying. What could make such a pretty girl cry so hard? I'm guessing a guy."

"It isn't a guy." My voice was sharp and clipped.

He held his hands up defensively. "Sorry. Figured your boyfriend dumped you or something. Most girls get all worked up over that."

"I don't have a boyfriend." I crossed my arms over my chest and leaned back against the tree trunk. "I'm in medical school. It's stressful."

"No boyfriend, huh. Then when do I get to take you to dinner?"

"You don't. I—"

"You really are gorgeous. I didn't pay close enough attention at the gas station."

My cheeks flamed as part of my dream flashed in my memory—the part where he kissed me. I banished it immediately.

"Let me take you to dinner." His eyes were nearly liquid gold in the fading sunlight.

"I don't know you." I brushed off my jeans, as nervous energy webbed-out under my skin.

He rose and stretched.

"Come on. I promise I don't bite. Much." His smile widened, exposing a perfect set of white teeth.

I'd heard him use that line before, in my dream.

"Still staying with _no_." I headed toward the path.

"Where are you going?" He jogged to catch up to me. His hand grabbed mine, but I pulled away.

I held up the pepper spray as a warning.

He took a step back. "What if I tell you something about myself?"

"You can try, but I'm pretty sure my answer won't change."

"Can't blame me for trying." He winked.

I rolled my eyes, then made for the path. He was just like he was in my dream. Persistent. "You're trouble."

"You know it. Steer clear, or I might take you down with me."

Before I reached the path, dark gray clouds moved into the sky, and the wind picked up.

"Where'd you park?" He reached for my hand again.

I tucked it behind my back. "The parking garage on campus. I walked here."

He glanced at the sky. "My bike's parked at the entrance. I'll take you to your car."

"No."

"You're going to walk in the rain?"

"It's not raining." Raindrops hit my forehead and arms. _Really?_ The Fates were always against me.

Vin's eyebrows rose in question.

I looked at my pepper spray can. I'd spray his ass and run if he tried anything. _Certainly, if he were going to kill or rape me, he would've done it already._

"Ok, but you take me directly to my car, and if you try anything—"

"I know. I'll get the mace." He held up his hands like I had a gun on him. "I promise, I'll take you straight there."

The rain came down harder as we reached the cobblestone path. Vin ran ahead. I walked. As soon as my feet hit the wet, moss-covered stones, I slipped but somehow maintained my balance. I inched up the path. Vin darted this way and that with natural ease, never faltering on the precarious surface.

He was halfway to the entrance. How was he not busting his ass?

Vin turned and was coming back. "You need some help?"

I glanced down and carefully stepped on the less moss-covered stones, trying not to fall. It was taking forever, and I was getting soaked. "I'm ok. Just have to go slow."

A growl resonated through the air. I looked up.

In the middle of the pathway, between Vin and I, the black wolf stood, his wet onyx coat shining like shimmering nail polish. His hackles were raised, and his muzzle peeled off his teeth, exposing his sharp canines.

I froze.

I'd seen him three times now. When the gray wolf attacked me, the day I'd sat in my car at the bank crying, and the day I received the scholarship. Why did he keep appearing?

Vin moved toward me and another growl ripped from the animal's muzzle. My heart rate doubled.

I glanced into the woods, searching frantically for the other wolf. There was a reason the onyx-colored wolf was here. But what was it?

"You shouldn't be here." Vin, who'd taken the words from my mouth, took a step forward. The wolf snarled, then leapt, snapping its teeth, as it landed directly in front of him.

I choked back a scream, my hand over my mouth. _Oh!_ It was after Vin.

"Lexi. Don't. Move." Vin's words came out through clenched teeth.

I had no intention of moving, but the wolf loped in my direction. I ran backward and slipped, falling onto my butt. My pepper spray flung into some bushes. The wolf circled me twice. I didn't breath. Then it faced Vin.

Vin moved toward me. The wolf clawed the ground, snarling, warning him to stay back.

He reached into his leather jacket, producing a large knife, which flicked open at his touch. I wasn't sure what frightened me more, the wolf or that Vin had a knife.

Vin's muscles corded as he planted his feet wide. "Someone is going to get hurt here, if you don't leave."

He was talking to the wolf.

"Seriously? You can't reason with a wild animal."

The rain fell harder as the standoff dragged on. When Vin tried to approach me, the wolf lunged at him, and I sat motionless. His plan wasn't working.

Why was the wolf here? Each time it had appeared before, I'd been frightened, upset. This time, I'd been uneasy about… _Vin_. It was protecting me from him.

"Vin, just go."

"What?" His eyebrows shot up, and he made another move toward me, which elicited a snarl from the wolf.

"Trust me. I'll be fine."

"But…" He looked from the wolf to me. "Are you sure?"

I gulped down the lump in my throat. "Yes. Go."

He backed up the path until he was out of sight. The wolf didn't move, at first. Then it turned and stared at me, its eyes an incandescent green.

My palms pressed against the stones, and every muscle in my body tensed as I waited for it to leave. The wolf was near enough to touch, and I wanted to run my fingers through its thick coat. This beautiful creature was guarding me. He _had_ defended me against the gray wolf. He wasn't dangerous. He was extraordinary.

I reached out, but the wolf moved away. He let out a soft whine, then darted into the woods.

I got to my feet, searched in the bushes around the path, and recovered my pepper spray.

By the time I got to the sitting area, I was drenched. Water dripped off the ends of my hair and the tip of my nose. I needed a hot shower.

I walked through the concrete archway and was surprised to see Vin waiting next to his motorcycle.

"You all right?" He shrugged out of his black leather jacket and wrapped it around my shoulders.

Grateful, I pushed my arms into the sleeves, and he zipped it closed. "Yeah. It ran off after you left."

"Strange." He mounted the bike and held out his hand. "Let's get you out of the rain."

I took his hand and threw my leg over the bike behind him. Once I was settled into place, I swathed my arms around his waist.

"I like this. You having to hold on tight." He winked at me over his shoulder. "You like it. Admit it."

"What I'd like is to get dry."

He jump-started the bike. The engine vibrated under me, then we flew onto the road. I didn't look to see how fast we were going, just buried my head in his back and closed my eyes tight. The wind rushed through my hair, whipping it out behind me.

With my body pressed against him, my dream returned to me, playing like a movie in my mind. I could feel his kiss, his touch. The only thing between my fingers and his bare skin was a flimsy cotton T-shirt. My breathing spiked.

"You good back there?"

"I'm fine." I was better than fine. My arms were wrapped securely around my dream made-flesh.

"I like you clinging to me this way, but look around. It's like you're flying."

I sat up and gazed over his shoulder. The road flew by. Cool wind and raindrops stung my face, but he was right. I was flying. My adrenalin surged and I let out a little yowl. Vin laughed.

I let go and stuck my arms straight out to the sides. I threw my head back. The positioning and lack of ability to see caused a feeling like falling. I felt free.

"Liked that?" After we pulled into the parking garage Vin held out his hand, so I could dismount. "Want to go again tomorrow?"

Once off, I handed him the jacket and considered his offer. He hadn't harmed me. He'd helped me, tried to protect me from the wolf. My insides were at war, my emotions pushing me to say yes, my head warning me not to.

In the end, my rational side wouldn't consent. Vin was a stranger.

"I don't think it's a good idea." I glanced down and scraped the toe of my sneaker against the concrete floor. If I looked into his cognac-colored eyes, I'd tell my rationality to go screw itself. "I don't know you."

"Maybe you should stop thinking." He stomped on the starter, firing the engine to life.

"I did. The moment I took your hand."

He peeled out of the garage.

I liked my dream version of him much better.

I went to bed hating the way we'd said good-bye. As I dozed off, I imagined our parting the way I wish it had gone, but the memory of the black wolf kept interrupting my thoughts.

And my thoughts spilled over into my dreams.

The obsidian-colored wolf stood possessively in the center of the field, its hackles raised, its teeth bared. It snarled at a shadowy figure lounging under the lone willow tree. Something about the figure made my spine turn to ice. I was too far away to see clearly, but the hanging branches hid his face anyway. I eased forward, and the wolf moved with me.

My skin tingled and crawled, as if under it were millions of tiny ants moving simultaneously. I was nearly there, when the wolf sprang forward, lunging for the figure's throat.

Startled, I backpedaled, fell, and sat hard. I covered my head. Horrible ripping and tearing sounds resonated through the field. When I found the will to glance up at the fray, I was alone, and the field was deadly quiet. My scalp prickled as I looked around.

Someone was watching me.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

_I'm sure Iza thinks I'm crazy._ I paused at the auditorium door, took a deep breath, then opened the door. Iza sat in our usual spot. She waved to me. I figured she would give me my bookbag and tell me she'd find another study partner. Who'd want to work with an insane girl, who might take off at any moment? Instead, she pointed to the seat next to her and motioned for me to sit.

"I didn't mean to upset you yesterday. I shouldn't have asked. Forgive me?" She smiled.

She was asking me to forgive her? I'd behaved like a mental patient, and she was apologizing to me?

"Don't worry about it." I lightly placed my hand on hers. "I'm sorry I ran off like I did."

"It wasn't your fault. I knew better than to ask those questions." She took my hand in hers and squeezed it, briefly. "If you ever need to talk, I'm a good listener."

But for her to listen, I'd have to talk, and that I couldn't do. "I'll remember that."

"It's nice having another girl to talk to. Maybe we could have a girls' night out." She flipped open her calendar and thumbed through the pages. "We could go dress shopping in New Orleans. Two weeks before finals. That's early enough to have dress alterations done before the formal."

She jotted down a note in her calendar.

She was excited to make plans with _me_, after I'd acted like an asylum patient, so I couldn't say no.

"Ok, but I don't really shop." I didn't have money for frivolous shopping trips.

"No problem. You'll love New Orleans. Have you ever been?"

"No." I'd never been out of the state or to a formal. _Formal?_ My palms began to sweat. "What formal?"

"The winter formal the fourth year students throw every year. We're required to attend."

She clapped her hands together and her eyes sparkled. Her excitement wasn't helping the queasiness in my stomach.

"Is something the matter?" Her eyes engaged mine, urging me to confide in her.

"I've never been to a formal," I whispered, then chewed my lip.

"What about your prom?"

"Skipped it."

She inhaled sharply. "What? Why? They're so much fun. It's like playing dress up again, like when we were kids."

"Never played dress up either."

She frowned, which I'd never seen her do before. "Every child should play dress up."

I sighed. "Orphans experience too much reality to be able to pretend."

"Then it's settled. I promise you'll love dress shopping." She sounded like a teenager who'd been given a credit card and free reign.

I raised one eyebrow at her quizzically, and she grinned in return.

Dr. Nash began exactly where she'd left off the day before, and again, I struggled to scratch down notes.

According to Dr. Nash's end-of-lecture announcement, we wouldn't be permitted in the clinical labs to practice skills until we'd completed our fourth test. So, it was going to be straight lectures for a month and a half. I was _thrilled_ and was certain the entire class felt the same, as groans echoed around the auditorium. Just a couple days of six-hour lectures could slay the healthiest man with tedium, but a solid month and a half should've been considered cruel and unusual punishment.

After class, my brain was fried. Thank God Iza had to hurry off to meet her brothers for an early dinner, because I couldn't endure another minute of studying.

I walked back to the parking garage, where Vin waited on his motorcycle, next to my car. He wore a blue polo shirt, jeans, and his leather jacket. I hadn't expected to see him. Yet, here he was, with a boyish grin and a small lollipop in his hand.

"A little something to sweeten you up."

I sat my bookbag in my car. My hands automatically went to my hips as I turned to him. "I wasn't the only one with a sour disposition yesterday."

"Which is why this one is for me." He produced a huge rainbow-colored swirl lollipop from inside his jacket, which instigated laughter from us both. "I apologize. What can I say? I'm not good at taking _no_ for an answer."

"I'll give you this one reprieve." I grinned, as I unwrapped my small lollipop and stuck it in my mouth. It was blue raspberry, my favorite. I twirled it around, then popped it out of my mouth, not thinking how it might look.

"Hmm. I knew lollipops would make a good apology, but the visual affect is a bonus." A wicked smile appeared on his face.

I ignored him _and_ the weak feeling in my legs. I stuck the lollipop safely back in my mouth, I kept it there.

"So, Red, how about a ride?"

"My answer hasn't changed, but feel free to keep trying."

"I plan to." He handed me his lollipop, winked, then drove off.

His visits after class continued and, each time he brought me a small gift. One day, it was cotton candy, then a donut, or a bubble gum machine ring. The best was the day he rode in with a bunch of Mylar balloons. Twenty of them.

"Well, I guess it's possible to _un_-cool a motorcycle." I chuckled as he came to a stop.

"Hey, you're always cool when you ride a one of these." He tossed his raven-colored hair out of his eyes and dismounted, handing me the bouquet of red, purple, and silver balloons.

"Not when you're holding some little girls balloons for her." I snickered.

"Think that's funny? I rode a long way holding onto those wind resistant bastards, just to see you smile."

He stood in front of me, ignoring society's rule about personal space. "Now, show me my smile."

I loved his confidence. It made him practically irresistible.

Looking up at him, batting my eyelashes, I displayed my best smile.

He grabbed my chin and kissed me deeply. Odd muscles in my belly contracted, as butterflies crashed and dived around my stomach. I let go of the balloons, my arms wrapping around his neck. What was I doing?

The kiss was better than the ones in my dream.

Even after our lips parted, I felt wobbly, and I was forced to hold onto him.

"Take me for a ride," I whispered. I needed to sit before my legs gave out.

His sexy smile widened. "Baby, I'd love to, but I have some place to be. I wasn't expecting you to give in today. Tomorrow?"

"Three pm tomorrow. I'll meet you here." My hands slid down, resting on his shoulders. His muscles felt hard as stone under the leather of his jacket.

He tucked a stray sprig of unruly hair behind my right ear. "Try not to miss me too much."

I knew I was getting involved with trouble, but what a well-packaged bunch of trouble he was. The epitome of a bad boy—it rolled off him in radioactive waves. I didn't care. If he were the road to hell, I'd gladly travel it without much hesitation.

As requested, he was in the garage after lecture the next day, with a white Gerber daisy. He looked amazing, dressed all in black. His clinging T-shirt was more titillating now that I'd felt his arms' hard muscles. He flaunted a cocky grin, then glanced at Iza, who stood beside me. His smile vanished.

Iza's face blanched, as she stepped in front of me and turned her back on Vin. "Lexi, is he who you have plans with?"

"Yeah. His name is—"

"Vin Archer. I know who he is." Her eyebrows pinched together.

"How?" I prayed she wasn't about to tell me they'd dated.

"Our families have an unpleasant history."

"What do you mean?"

"I can't talk about it now." Her eyes became thin slits and a crease appeared across her forehead. She really didn't like him.

"Hey, Red. We going?"

"Yeah." I held up a finger, telling him to give me a minute, but Iza didn't elaborate.

"Izabell, how are you?" His smile was sweet as he directed it at her.

"I'd be better if you fell over dead, but not all dreams come true."

My mouth dropped. Had she really said that?

He didn't acknowledge her comment, just held out his jacket to me. I took it and slipped it on. The leather felt cool as I pulled my hair out of the collar, and it brushed against my face.

Iza walked up, putting her finger in his face. "Don't you dare hurt my friend."

Tension pulsed in the air. It was almost audible, as it crackled and popped around them.

"She's in no danger, Iza, but your ugly lies might get _you_ into trouble."

They were toe to toe, and neither appeared willing to back off.

I raked my hand through my hair. _Really?_ What were the chances they'd know _and_ hate each other? _Thanks Fates, you sadistic assholes._

I stepped between them, pushing them apart. "Just stop it. You're acting like two kids fighting over a toy."

"Sorry," they said in unison. Then Iza strode toward her car, shaking her head.

I really wanted to know why they shared such abhorrence for each other, but this wasn't the time. I made a mental note to ask Iza about it later.

Vin took my hand and helped me onto the back of the bike. I wrapped my arms around his waist, sat my chin on his shoulder, and whispered in his ear. "Did you miss me?"

"I dreamt about you. I'd tell you about it, but it might make you blush." He laughed loudly, then jump-started the bike.

"Funny. I didn't dream about you at all."

He looked over his shoulder, the corner of his mouth curling up, and he winked. "I'm going to have to work on that. Now, hang on."

We flew out the garage and down the street. Vin merged onto the highway and, after about ten minutes, took the Rain Tree exit. Soon, we were on a dirt road with pasturelands on both sides and scattered, old, run-down barns with rusted tin roofs.

We had to be doing eighty or more. It felt marvelous. I let go, sticking my arms out while leaning back, like I had before. Clouds flew overhead. As we went down a hill, my stomach dropped, and I giggled uncontrollably. Riding with Vin was becoming one of my favorite activities.

I sat up, wrapping my arms back around him. We passed a sign, which read Rain Tree five miles. I'd never been to Rain Tree.

"Vin, where are we going?"

"To my shop. I'm going to introduce you to my friends."

I wanted to see his shop, meet his friends, and discover if there was more to him than good looks and sarcasm.

He pulled into the driveway of an enormous, blue metal building with two garage doors. One door was open and two guys sat near a red motorcycle. Vin cut the engine, dismounted, then helped me off the bike.

He took my hand, brought it up to his lips, and kissed my knuckles. My breath caught as I remembered our first kiss. My lips tingled, and nervous ripples disturbed my calm. I longed to kiss him again, feel his soft lips on mine, his silky tongue caressing the inside of my mouth. The ripples morphed into a tsunami.

As he pulled me toward the garage, he placed his hand around mine, but even it's coolness wasn't enough to restore my calm. I breathed in deeply, then slowly let it out.

"Guys, this is Lexi." Vin smiled at me. "This is Jaxon."

A stocky guy knelt near the motorcycle, which was in pieces on the ground. "Hello little lamb."

"Hi." I inched closer to Vin, and he gave my hand a reassuring squeeze.

Jaxon's hair was black as tar, his eyes a bright blue-green. He was nice looking, but there was something about him, something I couldn't put my finger on. Like, I wouldn't want to meet him in a dark alley.

"The one sitting on the chair is Ash." Vin gestured to a tall, lanky, russet haired guy with some kind of engine part in his hand and a tool in the other. His complexion was pale, and his hazel eyes appeared to change colors, from green to brown.

"I didn't know you were bringing company today. A warning would've been nice." Jaxon flung a tool into the nearby toolbox.

The loud bang made me jump. I stared at the floor, my stomach in knots. _Am I intruding?_

Vin's thumb stroked the back of my hand, as he shot a warning look at Jaxon, as if telling him to mind his manners. "I brought her to see the shop and meet my friends. Have you seen them? Because my friends wouldn't act like assholes?"

"If I see them, I'll let you know." Jaxon took a wrench and turned a bolt on the engine, removing another part from the bike. He and Vin glared at each other for a moment.

A slender girl sauntered into the room. Vin introduced her as Rhea. The way she moved, fluid and sultry, on the balls of her bare feet, was exquisite. Her shoulder length hair, hung in perfect spiral curls and framed her impeccably shaped face, making her amber-colored eyes more prominent. Her skin was luminescent in its flawlessness. "Are you two boys fighting again?"

Her long legs, moving with more grace and more finesse than those of a cat walking a ridgepole, carried her to Jaxon. She stroked one of his sideburns with the tips of her nails and he leaned into her touch. "No one is fighting. Vin is giving me a lesson in manners." 

Without even looking at the trashcan, Ash flung a broken bolt into it. "You're going to be a doctor?"

"Um… Yeah."

"So, how'd you meet Vin? Lexi, is it?" Rhea sat in a camping chair next to Jaxon.

"I rescued her from a rainstorm." Vin winked at me.

I was relieved he'd left out that I'd been crying like a child.

A metallic screech filled the garage. I cringed. The sound was worse than nails on a chalkboard.

"You're going to break that if you keep turning the screw so hard, you dumbass." Jaxon pointed his finger at Ash, who ignored him.

Metal squealed again as the screw stripped out.

Rhea grabbed Jaxon's chin, turning his face toward her, and kissed the corner of his mouth. "Baby, let him tear it up. Then he can stay and fix it."

"No, he'll leave it for me to fix like he always does. Idiot child."

All the guys appeared to be around the same age, which made Jaxon's curse odd.

"You listen here _old man_. I'll fix this damn part however I want. You don't like it? Well, I don't give a shit."

_Old man? Weird._ I scratched my temple.

Jaxon threw his wrench at Ash's head. Ash caught it without difficulty and threw it back. Jaxon moved to catch it, but Rhea's hand shot out catching it first.

Man, they all had great hand-eye coordination.

"Come on." Vin led me out the back of the garage, as tools continued to fly.

A wooden, homemade swing hung from an immense oak tree. I sat on it, my hands wrapping around the chains.

Vin put his hands on my shoulders and gently pushed. "I know they're rough, but those guys are family."

I didn't say anything. How could I tell him I really didn't like his friends? They hadn't seemed too fond of me either. Would it have mattered to him?

I'd never done this before. I'd only dated one guy in high school, and his friends were my friends. So I didn't know what the protocol was for my situation.

_It's probably better if I just keep it to myself._ Besides, I'm dating him, not his friends. _Right?_

A strong arm caught me around the waist, freezing me in midair. Lips grazed my neck and I gasped, my hands locking onto Vin's arm. His touch did things to me, things with which I wasn't familiar. My pulse quickened, my breathing increased, and I desperately wanted to turn and kiss him.

He released me and eased the swing down until I sat level. "What are you thinking about?"

"Nothing really."

He moved in front of me and placed a finger under my chin, tilting my head up. "I don't believe you."

"Stop being so perceptive." I took his hand and intertwined my fingers in his.

He'd told me his friends were like his adoptive family, but what about his _real_ family? Did he have siblings? He wouldn't talk about it. All he'd say was that his family was the definition of dysfunctional.

Maybe his father was abusive and Vin left. Maybe he felt guilty for leaving his siblings, if he had any.

"If you're worried about them, don't be. They'll warm up to you." He moved back behind me and pushed me again. "You've met my family. Tell me about yours."

_Maybe if I talk about my family, he'll talk about his real family._

I had to be careful though. If I let this go too far I'd be in tears again. Vin seeing me cry once was enough.

"It's just my brother and me. He's the oldest."

"And your parents?"

I tightened my grip on the swing chains and adjusted my seat. Why did he have to ask that question?

A quick answer was best.

"They're dead." I clenched my jaw, my lips making a straight line. Hopefully, he wouldn't ask the question most people asked next. _What happened?_

"I'm sorry."

He didn't, and I was grateful. I glanced down at my wrist and realized I'd forgotten my watch. "What time is it? I have to meet Iza at my house at four thirty."

"You could blow her off." His smile was playful, but I was sure he meant it.

"That wouldn't be very polite of me. We have studying to do."

"Fine. I'll take you back." We made a pass through the garage so I could say good-bye to his friends, but they seemed completely disinterested.

"So can we ride again tomorrow?" We stood next to my car. Vin held my hands and gazed into my eyes. His lips were so close, only inches from mine. My stomach was doing flips, and my temperature rose ten degrees. If I leaned forward just a bit more, we could kiss.

As if he'd read my mind, Vin closed the short distance between us. His lips were cool, like his hands, and his tongue was velvety. He kissed me slowly, his hand cupping my face before sliding behind my neck. My thoughts blurred together into senseless images.

He stopped and stared at me.

Had I done something wrong? My body tensed. I didn't like him looking at me so closely. My flaws were too visible. "Was that ok?"

His eyebrows pinched together for a second, then he smiled. "Horrible. I don't think I've ever had worse."

I shoved him, playfully, but he didn't budge. My grin threatened to split my face in two. "That bad huh?"

"Monstrously bad." He quickly kissed me again. "I'll pick you up early tomorrow. There's something I want to show you."

"What?"

His hand pressed against my cheek, his thumb rubbing across my lips. "Wait and see."

I grabbed him around the neck and kissed him, tracing his lips with my tongue. Then I gently bit his bottom lip.

A low rumbling sound came from his throat, and he pushed me back, holding me at arm's length. "We're biting now?"

"Hmm." He drew me to him, then kissed down my neck to the hollow. He licked then lightly bit me back.

Sparks of pleasure shot out to every nerve ending in my body. I giggled at the prickly sensation. He nipped a second time. I was lightheaded, falling. He held me up.

He licked the hollow of my neck again, then pulled away. My head was swimming, my thoughts foggy.

"What was that?" My words came out slurred, and I couldn't focus my eyes.

"I call it kissing." With one hand, he wiped his mouth. The other still held me upright. "You know, when two people who are attracted to each other put their lips together and—

"Smart-ass."

"At your service." He dipped his head as if tipping a top hat.

"Well, I wasn't counting on the lightheaded feeling that came with it." I backed away to walk to my car, but instead, I stumbled and fell. Vin caught me before I hit the concrete. He was remarkably quick, covering the distance in an instant. He took the keys from my hand and unlocked the car door, helping me into the front seat.

"I've been told I have this affect on girls." His laugh was haughty.

I smacked at his arm, but my aim was wide. My vision was blurry. _Maybe my blood sugar is low? _It'd been a while since I'd eaten, and low blood sugar could cause someone to pass out.

"Vin, there's a granola bar in my bookbag. Would you get it for me?"

He disappeared to the back of the car and reappeared with the granola bar. I opened it, took a bite, then another. He produced my water bottle, and I drank like I'd been out in the desert all day.

After finishing my snack, the dizziness dissipated, the blurred vision cleared, and I was able to smack Vin properly. "Look what you did."

"You started that. I can't help that my skills are more potent with you." A mischievous light flickered in his eyes. I'd started it, but he'd certainly finished it.

"You good to drive?" He brushed a stray piece of hair out of my eyes.

"Yeah. Better now."

"All right. See you tomorrow." He handed me back my keys and shut the car door.

_Damn. Mr. Experienced might be more than I can handle._ I cranked the car. _Guess I'll find out the hard way. _


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Iza stood on my back porch, her arms crossed over her chest, and her foot tapping, when I pulled up. She did _not_ look happy.

"What happened to you?" Iza touched my cheek with her fingers. Her forehead creased. "You're so pale."

"I'm dizzy." I stepped onto the porch and nearly fell through the back door, catching myself on the doorjamb.

"Are you experiencing blurred vision?" She took my bookbag, set it beside the kitchen table, and helped me to the living room couch.

"I was, but after I ate something, it went away." Sitting down felt good. It made everything stop spinning. "I think my blood sugar is low."

"Low blood sugar. _I'm sure_." Iza sat beside me. She took my wrist and felt for my pulse. "What did you and Vin do?"

"Nothing. We went to his shop. I met his friends." Her contempt for him, without any explanation, was irritating. If she was going to openly hate him, then she needed to give me a reason. "What's your issue with Vin?"

"He's _not_ good for you." She stood, her hands on her hips, facing me. "He let you drive home like this? You could've had a wreck."

"That isn't why you hate him." I crossed my arms over my chest. "Did you two date?"

I really wanted her to say no. Dating someone's ex was complicated, and people always got hurt.

"Oh my God. _Never._" She stuck her finger in her mouth, as if she were making herself gag, mimicking the appropriate sounds.

"Ok, I get the point. So what is it?"

Her face was a movie screen full of emotions, displaying a war going on inside her. Finally, she sighed. "I wish I could answer that question."

"What do you mean? It's not difficult. You just answer the question."

"I…" She glanced around, looking everywhere but at me, then ran her hands through her hair. "I shouldn't tell you this."

I waited patiently for her to go on. She paced.

"Connor, my brother, was engaged to a girl named Clair. Vin had dated Clair and wanted her back. She went off with him, to try and explain things." Iza wrapped her arms around herself, still not looking at me, as she continued to pace. "Connor found her in the woods. Dead."

An icy cold inched across my shoulder and the hair on my arms stood. My stomach felt like it dropped out of existence.

"Oh no." I leaned forward, my hands pressed against the tops of my knees. What did I really know about Vin? He was attractive, rode a motorcycle and fixed them for a living, and had friends I wasn't crazy about. Truth was, I didn't know him. Yet, my instincts told me he wasn't capable of murder.

"There wasn't anything connecting him to her murder, but we knew it was him."

"So everyone thinking he did it makes it true?" I sagged back against the couch. I couldn't believe she'd go along with such weak-minded individuals, socially condemning someone without proof. "He loved her. You don't kill someone you love."

"He was raised in an abusive home."

_I knew it._

"When he got older he was always getting into fights. Once, Justin watched him slice a man's throat open with a broken bottle, during a fight."

"What was the other guy holding?" He'd probably had a broken bottle of his own, trying to cut Vin's throat.

"I don't know."

"Did you stop to consider that he was defending himself?"

She was typecasting, which infuriated me. Simply because we were foster kids, everyone had assumed my brother and I were troublemakers, bad kids. We were always the first to be accused when something went missing or when any vandalism occurred. The discrimination hadn't stopped until we were out of the system.

Iza's belief that Vin had killed Clair was just another case of stereotyping. Vin radiated bad boy, and he'd been the last to see her alive. So, in Iza's mind, he was guilty. I, however, wouldn't believe he was guilty, based solely on his roguish persona. Nor would I accept anymore of her defamations where he was concerned.

"Lexi, please be careful. I've known him for a long time, and he's deplorable." She sat down next to me, placing her hand over one of mine. "Promise me, if you're ever in trouble, you'll call me."

"I can't call you. No cell phone. But, I'll be careful. Not that I need to be."

She rolled her eyes. "If you say so."

We let it drop, heading to my room and turning to our studies. We worked through our notes, then Iza went over a couple of concepts I was having trouble with from a previous lecture.

I yawned and glanced at the digital clock on my bedside table, which read eleven thirty. We'd been studying for hours, and my neck and shoulders were aching. "It's getting late."

Iza echoed my yawn as she shut her book.

I got up and drew the curtains, remembering my mother telling me spirits were drawn to lighted windows. That thought had always frightened me.

I still didn't feel well. I staggered over to my dresser, my head a bit woozy. I rubbed at my sleepy eyes. The reflection I saw in the dresser mirror couldn't have been mine. The complexion was sallow, with faint purple rings under the eyes. I looked like a ghoul.

I had no time to get sick. Missing a single lecture in medical school was like missing a week's worth of undergraduate lectures. Even so, I couldn't walk ten feet without my head spinning. I gripped the dresser to steady myself.

"You need rest." Iza helped me to my bed. "Let me move this stuff."

She removed the books and papers off my twin bed and turned down the thin, warn comforter. As I sat on the side of the bed, I wobbled. My limbs were heavy. I tried to put my legs on the bed, but they barely moved. "Crap. I can't be sick."

"Here, let me." She helped me out of my shirt and jeans, slid the white cotton gown over my head, then lifted my legs onto the bed.

Laying my head on the pillow and closing my eyes was a relief. The horizontal position made the spinning stop but did nothing for the aching sensation diffusing through me. "I think I'm getting the flu?"

I glanced up at Iza while she tucked the covers around me. I was freezing, which wasn't normal for me. "I'm weak, my body aches, and I'm dizzy. Do I have a temperature?"

She laid the back of her delicate hand on my forehead and placed her other hand on her forehead. She shook her head. "I'm sure you're just exhausted."

"I'm sorry I turned into such a terrible hostess." Iza hadn't complained once, even though my little room wasn't the type of study accommodations she was probably used to. There wasn't much room to move, and the light was really too dim. We should've gone back to the library.

"I'm going to go. Unless you need something?"

"I just want to sleep." I took a deep breath and let it out with a sigh, as I listened to Iza's footsteps. "Do you honestly think Vin killed Clair?"

Her footsteps stopped. "He was the last one to see her alive, but he swears he didn't do it."

"I don't believe he did."

"For your sake, I hope you're right." Her footsteps faded.

I knew I was right. My instincts would've told me if I wasn't.

Saturday morning, Vin picked me up and we rode north for three hours. By the time he turned down a driveway and parked, my butt was in agony. I climbed off and looked around, stretching my legs. Being wrapped around Vin was nice but not at eighty miles-an-hour for three hours.

I wasn't sure where we were, but the landscape was magnificent. Thank God, I'd woken up feeling better or I would've missed out.

Tall oak trees surrounded a two story antebellum home, with enormous white columns that stretched the entire height of the house. "Where are we?"

A historic plaque was on a pole next to the brick walk. The plaque read: Dresden Plantation. Built 1855.

Vin snaked his arm around my waist. "The Dresden Plantation. Lore says a witch built it, using the bones of her human sacrifices in the foundation."

He did his best creepy laugh. I rolled my eyes.

We walked onto the porch, entering through the front door. The house was quiet. Certainly someone else was touring. Vin picked up a pamphlet from the table by the door and gave it to me.

"Are we alone?" I asked.

"I arranged for us to have the place to ourselves for an hour. You can go anywhere you'd like."

I clapped my hands together and bounced on the balls of my feet. "Do you think there are secret passageways?"

"Actually, I know there are, but you'll have to find them."

I felt breathless and there was a lightness in my chest. "Now, _this_ is fun."

I ran up the grand staircase onto the landing of the second floor. The secret passages likely went between floors, not rooms. Methodically, I moved from room to room, inspecting every inch of molding for some sign that it might be movable. I checked inside closets and under beds.

After seven rooms, I'd found nothing. Vin followed, never giving indication if I were hot or cold. I was ready to abandon my search, when an arctic chill blew across my neck. It came from the silver closet I'd just examined in the dinning room. There was nothing in there, but I _had_ to reexamine it.

The moment I stepped into the closet, I knew where to look. I pushed up the bottom shelf, which was loose, then sat it off to the side and examined the back wall. One wooden board was darker than the others. I pressed my hand against the wood, and it made a pop. The lower half of the wall swung out, revealing a staircase. "Oh wow."

I looked back at Vin. His eyes were wide, like the bottoms of full brandy sniffers.

He knelt down at the closet door. "I didn't know this was here."

"What do you mean?"

He motioned for me to go ahead. I ducked under the remaining wall and eased up the dark stairs. Something touched my shoulder, and I screamed, freezing in place.

"It was me," Vin said. "Keep going. There are three more steps."

"You can see?" All I saw was black. I had to feel the steps with my foot before moving up. How could he see?

"Well enough."

_He must be part fox._

We were in a pitch-black room with no windows. The shuffling of our feet was loud, which meant the walls were close, the room small. Suddenly, bright light filled the room. I covered my eyes, as daggers of pain drove into my brain. "Ouch."

When I peeked through my hand, hollow eye sockets stared back at me. I yelped, jumping back into Vin. He steadied me, his hand gripping my waist, his other hand holding a LED flashlight.

"Yes, I would say that's disturbing." His flashlight illuminated the skull sitting on the small table against the wall across from us.

Where the hell had he gotten the flashlight? He must've brought it, but then why had he let me crawl up the stairs in the dark? _Ass!_

My heart rate was deadly high as I fought the urge to bolt. The skull was creepy, but I couldn't look away. I had to see every detail.

"You didn't know about this passageway?"

"Everyone knows about it, but no one has ever found it." He panned the flashlight around the room. "This is the Dresden altar room, where they performed magic rituals and obviously sacrifices."

His flashlight beam skimmed the skull then dropped to the floor, illuminating a large dark stain in the wood.

"That's not blood." I backed against Vin's chest, catching a faint whiff of iron in the musty air. Being a medical student, I knew the smell of blood. "Oh God. That _is_ blood."

Something, or someone, had been tortured and killed here. I held my stomach, trying not to vomit. How could someone be so cruel?

I turned my attention back to the skull. The parietal region was covered in shriveled, black rose petals. The petals were probably once red. Six clear stones and black sand encircled the area where the skull sat on the rotting wood.

_My mother hid her bracelet in sand._ _What is it with sand? Maybe there's some wives' tale involving it._

A clinking, like crystal glasses tapping together, permeated the silence. I latched onto Vin's hand at my waist. "Where is that coming from?"

"There." He aimed the flashlight at the ceiling, and rainbows appeared on the walls, the floor, the skull, and our clothes. Hundreds of crystal prisms dangled overhead. It would've been breathtaking, if we hadn't been in an interior room with no breeze-through. Maybe our movements shook the wall.

"I want to leave." There was a loud bang. The center of my chest went cold. I turned, hiding my face in Vin's shirt. Cold spread outward, toward my hands and feet. "Vin, please."

"All right. Stay behind me."

I followed him down the stairs, keeping my hands on his shoulders. I needed the physical contact. Scientifically, I didn't believe in ghosts, but my fear didn't seem to care.

At the bottom of the stairs, Vin cursed. There was no light coming in from the opening. "It's shut."

"No…" I shook uncontrollably, huddling against Vin's back. Cold blew across my neck and the crystals tinkling grew to a deafening level. I closed my eyes tight, grabbing two handfuls of his shirt.

He turned and gently pushed me back. I panted, my hands clawing for some piece of him.

"Lexi, I need you to go up the stairs."

"What?" My voice was shrill. "I can't."

"I'm going to have to get this panel open, and I need room to move. I don't want to hurt you."

"Ok…" I reached behind me feeling for a step and sat back on it then slid up two more. I put my head on my knees, covering my face with my hands. There was a loud thump then a thud and a crash. I flinched after each sound.

Something brushed my arm and I shrieked, my head coming up, eyes popping open.

"Baby, it's me." Vin stroked my cheek, soothing me. "Here. You go first. Put your hand against the wall. Can you see the light?"

I blinked rapidly, seeing a dim, rectangular, illumination below me. Vin moved aside. Placing my hand against the wall, I felt my way down the stairs. The opening glowed with golden light. I dipped through it and ran into the dinning room.

Strong arms wrapped around me from behind. I turned into Vin's embrace, placing my head on his chest.

"Baby?" He kissed the top of my head. "You're all right."

"Please, let's go." I straightened, smoothing my clothes and hair. _If only I could straighten out my twisted nerves. _

Being a scaredy-cat, I'd had no business traipsing up a dark, hidden, staircase. Normally, I wouldn't have even considered it, but Vin had an unusual effect on me. I felt stronger, steadier, with him nearby. He kept an arm around my shoulders, as we walked through the house and out the front door. Neither of us spoke the entire way home.

My thoughts drifted as we flew down the highway. I didn't understand how Iza could think Vin had killed someone. It wasn't possible. The Vin who'd held me when I was scared, who'd attempted to protect me from a wolf, wasn't a killer. Yet, a part of me needed to hear him deny it, but I knew if I asked, it would ruin everything. Why stir up problems over something I knew wasn't true? I just had to trust him.

Too bad The Fates didn't deal in trust. Their only currency was pain. Their only rule: Everything _was_ fair game.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

"Who said I was falling for you?" I flipped my hair out of my eyes as I cut my gaze to Vin, playing coy. I sat in his lap on my back porch, his arms around me, the Sunday sun hanging low in the sky.

The corners of Vin's mouth turned up, the smartass retort forming. Yet, before he could use it, his cell rang. After his first few sentences, I knew the call was work-related, so I stood and went inside.

After hanging up, he stalked, footsteps heavy, into the kitchen. "Something's come up at the shop. I have to go."

"All right." I could feel my frown developing and tried to disguise it, unsuccessfully.

"I'm sorry, baby." He took my hands, pulling me to him, and swathed them around his middle. "You _are_ falling for me though. Admit it."

His smile was sexy, curling up on one side. My insides sizzled like butter in a frying pan. I sighed, knowing I was about to give in.

"Say it," he whispered, against my lips.

"I'm falling for you." My voice was a murmur when I spoke.

His hand fisted in my hair, gently tugging my head back, as his mouth came down on mine. The kiss wasn't soft. It was hard and desperate. His arm crushed me against him.

The moment he kissed me, the butterflies in my stomach exploded, destroyed by the jolt of energy that had passed through me. My heart rate raced out of control. I couldn't breathe and not just because of the kiss.

He was squeezing my ribs. I couldn't take a breath. As his tongue danced around my mouth, I was caught, between pleasure and the pain in my ribs. I needed to get free, but I didn't want to.

Something popped. Vin released me immediately, like he'd heard it. I clutched my right side with my left hand and tucked my right elbow against it. I clenched my teeth, as tears rolled down my face, and I doubled over.

"Shit. Baby, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to."

I couldn't catch my breath to answer him. Every time I attempted to inhale it was like being hit in the side with a spiked sledgehammer. It took everything I had not to scream out.

Vin scooped me up and brought me into the living room, depositing me onto the couch.

"I think you broke… My rib." I'd never had a broken rib so I wasn't certain how it should feel, but this was how my textbook described it.

"Do you need a doctor?" He smoothed the hair off my face and wiped away the tears.

I nodded.

He helped me off the couch, out the back door, and into the passenger seat of my car. He drove, faster than needed, and every bump he hit evoked a moan from me.

_He broke my rib?_ I didn't know it was possible for someone to do that to another person simply by squeezing them. Not that it matter. It was an accident.

_Oh God._ _Had he accidently squeezed Clair too hard?_ He could have broken a rib, which punctured a lung, and she bled to death. _No, he had nothing to do with her death. And my broken rib was an accident._

"I should've been more careful." He steered into the ER parking lot and parked. He got out, then opened my door and gently drew me from the car.

His cell phone went off again. "I have to go. Can you make it inside?"

_What?_ I couldn't believe he was going to leave me.

"Yeah. Go." My words were clipped, as I glared at him.

"Your car will be waiting here when you're ready to leave. I'll have Jaxon bring it back."

I wasn't thrilled with the idea of Jaxon driving my car, but Vin didn't give me time to protest.He got behind the wheel, slamming the door, then speed out of the lot, leaving me clutching my side at the ER doors.

I walked in through the ambulance entrance. Another perk of working in an ER, no waiting. Cindy and Dr. Anderson ushered me into the nearest exam room. Two X-rays later my suspicions were confirmed. Broken rib. Cindy taped up my side and I was out the door within an hour. My car was waiting in the parking lot, as Vin had promised.

I called Vin when I got home, but he didn't answer his cell.

Pain lanced through my side, and I winced. Dr. Anderson had given me a prescription for some painkillers, but I didn't take anything other than Advil for pain, so I threw the scrip away. I popped two Advil and went to call Iza.

"I was wondering… Could we study at your place tonight?"

"Sure. I can make homemade pizza." The excitement in her voice was infectious.

My side throbbed. "I'm going to be a few minutes late though."

"I'll leave the door unlocked."

"Why don't you bring Aiden? I love to cook for people. I live at The Oaks, apartment 2C. Just come on in." Her voice vibrated with anticipation. Was it getting to cook for someone other than herself or getting to see my brother that had her all worked up?

"All right. Just be forewarned, he can really pack the food away."

"What southern boy can't?" She snickered.

"True." I hung up.

An hour later, Aiden arrived home. He noticed I was in pain, so I told him what happened. Sort of.

"How'd you break a rib?" Aiden's arms were folded across his chest, and he tapped a toe against the living room floor.

"I fell. Tripped over a kitchen chair, which turned over, then landed on it." If Aiden even suspected Vin had anything to do with my injury, he'd beat his ass and ask questions later.

"Don't think ya need to have a surgery rotation in med school. Ya might trip and stab yourself in the neck with a scalpel." He laughed so hard at his joke that he choked and started coughing.

"So, what've ya been up to the last few days? I met your friend Iza the other night. She said ya weren't feelin' well. You better?"

"Yeah." Iza talked to Aiden when I wasn't around?She was into him. No doubt.

"She seems sweet." He blushed.

I'd never seen him do that before. My tough brother wasn't the kind who got all stirred up over a girl. They usually got that way over him.

"And…"

I knew what he was thinking, but I wanted to hear him say it, as though he were giving me permission to meddle.

"Yeah, she's really pretty." He tugged his ball cap down low.

"I think she's interested."

His eyes flickered with excitement.

"We're invited to dinner tonight. She's very enthusiastic, even though I told her you ate like a starving dog."

"No ya didn't."

I laughed at his shocked expression.

"Not in those exact words."

He appeared only slightly relieved.

"So, is she who you were out with the other day in River Tree?"

He saw us? I knew there was no lie that could get me off the motorcycle in his memory.

"Um, no." Not a good response, but I was near speechless. I ran a hand through my hair and shrunk into the couch.

"Ridin' around at excessive speeds on a motorcycle isn't a way to make it to graduation. It's not _if_ ya have a wreck on one, but _when_. Plus, ridin' with a guy you haven't bothered to introduce to me…" He glared at me.

I wasn't sure what was the best thing to say.

"He's a really good driver and sweet, most of the time."

"What do you mean?"

_Iza thinks he killed his last girlfriend and he broke my rib. Not to mention, he's a huge smart-ass. _Oh yeah, that would give Aiden an instant heart attack.

"He can be a smart-ass. That's all." I was uncomfortable talking about Vin with Aiden and wanted to change the subject.

"I'm not your father, just your brother. But I'd like for ya to keep the motorcycle ridin' to a minimum and invite him over for dinner. I need to size him up."

This was going better than anticipated. No yelling. His forehead hadn't even creased

"What's his name anyway?"

"Vincent Archer. He owns a bike shop in River Tree. That's where we were headed when you saw us. He took me to meet his friends."

"Huh." He wasn't shouting, but his face didn't emote acceptance either.

"If you want a shower before we go you better hustle."

"Hell." He hurried into the bathroom, slamming the door.

"How do I look?" Aiden asked, straightening his collar, as we climbed the stairs at Iza's apartment complex.

I wasn't used to seeing him in a polo shirt. I'd forgotten he owned anything besides T-shirts. His auburn hair was brushed out of his sky-blue eyes, he'd shaved, and he wore cologne. He fussed with his hair, as we walked to Iza's second floor apartment door.

"You look very nice for a starving dog." I snorted. My right arm was tucked tight against my injured rib, so I knocked with my left hand.

"Shut up."

Iza opened the door. She made eye contact with Aiden and smiled. "I'm so glad you're here. The pizzas are ready to come out of the oven."

Her long golden blond locks were pulled up in a loose ponytail, which hung midway down her back. She wore jeans and a pale pink, silk camisole, which flattered her fair skin tone.

She beckoned us into the living room. It was huge. She had two couches and two recliners in it, and there was still enough room for a preschool group to play tag without running into anything. A sixty-inch flat screen was mounted on the far wall across from the couches. The coffee table was made of dark, heavy wood and had clawed feet, very antique looking.

"Aiden, the remote to the television is on the coffee table. Make yourself at home."

He sat on the couch, and Iza and I walked into the oversized kitchen. She slid like an ice-skater in her white sock feet, twirling for fun. I followed dropping my bookbag on the table.

The kitchen was equipped with stainless steel appliances, including a stove with spider burners, a small island in the center, and pots hanging from an iron rack suspended from the ceiling. It was right out of a home design magazine.

"I love your apartment."

She removed the pizzas from the oven and placed them on metal racks on the island to cool.

"Thank you. I'll have to show you the rest of it after dinner. You have to see my tub. It's my second favorite part of this place, next to the kitchen." She gathered plates and napkins, and stacked them next to the pizzas.

"A tub…" I'd never gotten to take long baths. My foster parents only allowed us fifteen minutes each in the bathroom, because they didn't want a high water bill.

"That's right. Your house doesn't have a tub. You're welcome to mine anytime." She rummaged through a drawer and produced a large pizza cutter. "I was lucky to get this apartment. It was built for the owner's daughter as a penthouse suite. I got it when she moved out."

She cut the pizzas into slices. "He went overboard with it, though. My bathroom has marble countertops, and there's a wrought iron balcony outside my bedroom."

"How can you afford this place on a student's income?"

"My brothers bought it for me so I wouldn't have to worry about rent. It was their way of contributing to my education. I told them this place was way more than I needed, but they insisted."

Iza glanced into the living room. Aiden was sitting on the couch, flipping through channels. Her eyes were wide and she barely blinked. Her mouth was half open, her cheeks the color of dark pink rose petals. "Aiden seems really sweet."

"Funny, he said the same about you." I raised an eyebrow and smiled like a Cheshire cat.

She dropped the pizza cutter, which hit the white tile floor with a clatter.

"I… Well…" She picked up the utensil and put it in the sink.

"It's okay. He had a similar reaction."

"You didn't?" She was ashen, except for the neon pink in her cheeks.

"Stop fretting. He likes you." I took a mushroom off a pizza and popped it into my mouth. "You can dazzle him with your exquisite cooking. This is great."

Wasn't she used to every guy falling for her? Long blond hair, pale green eyes hooded by unending, dark lashes, a lean, curvy figure, and a sweet temper—what guy wouldn't love her? Next to her, I felt like a fire-haired troll.

She wiped her forehead and tightened her ponytail. "Getting it together."

She took the plates, napkins, and a clean pizza cutter, then went down the hall to the dinning room. I followed, carrying one of the pizzas. Aiden smiled as she passed the living room.

The walls in the dinning room were light blue with stark white moldings. A massive crystal chandelier hung over the table, which matched the coffee table in the living room. It had the same claw feet. There were twelve chairs, with carvings in the wooden backrests, spaced at perfect intervals around the table.

After everything was placed, on the table Iza disappeared into the hall. She returned, leading Aiden by the hand. He stepped behind the chair at the head of the table and pulled it out for her.

We all sat, Iza at the head of the table, Aiden and I across from each other.

"Aiden, which do you prefer?" Iza asked.

"Doesn't matter. Both look good." His eyes lingered on her lips.

She placed a slice from the cheese and mushroom pizza on his plate, then poured him a glass of tea. Their conversation was polite. She touched his arm and he smiled. It was very innocent, sweet.

When we were finished, I tried gathering the dishes, but every plate I picked up generated a sharp pain in my side. I bit my lip and grimaced.

"Hey. Put that down." Aiden stood, taking the plate out of my hand. "No lifting heavy things."

Iza's brow was wrinkled, her lips pinched. "What's the matter?"

"Klutz tripped over a chair in the kitchen, then landed on it. Broke a rib. Lucky she didn't break her neck." Aiden chuckled as he walked out of the room with the dishes.

He placed them on the kitchen counter, then hurried back to the dinning room. I left the two of them to their conversation. I washed the dishes by hand, since there weren't that many, and it gave Aiden and Iza more time alone. I just had to make sure to use my left hand to lift the plates or I was rewarded with, what felt like, a swift kick in the side.

_Come on Aiden don't screw this up._ He usually got nervous and stuck his foot in his mouth.

A chorus of laughter erupted from the dinning room. _Oh shit. What did he say?_

But the laughter had the intonation of both their voices. _Whew. _

After about thirty minutes Iza walked him to the front door. I strained my neck to see their goodbye, as I stood at the sink. Drying dishes with one hand was time consuming.

"Thanks for dinner." He bumped her hand with his, then laced his fingers through hers. "It ain't too much trouble to bring Lexi home? Or you can call me. I'll come back and get her."

I tapped my fingers on the counter, loudly. I wasn't a four-year-old child who needed picking up from school.

"It's no problem." She leaned up on her tiptoes and pecked his cheek. "Call me tomorrow?"

"You bet." He grinned wildly, as he pulled the door closed behind him.

Iza glided into the kitchen like a golden ray of light, her smile secretive. Her eyes were the color of magnolia leaves. She spun around, humming. She seemed enthralled, taken over by pure bliss. 

I was happy for her, but she wasn't happy for me. She never would be. She thought Vin was a monster.

_Is he?_ I winced at the pain in my side, as I sat a dry glass on the counter. The rib had been an accident. But he hadn't stayed with me in the ER or called to check on me. What if Lexi was right about him, about Clair…

_No! This is ridiculous. He didn't kill anyone. He's busy with the emergency at the shop. That's why he hasn't called. _

A glass slipped from my fingers into the sink. Water splashed onto my clothes.

"What are you doing? I have a dishwasher."

"There were so few. I don't mind. It's how I wash them at home."

"Drop the scrub brush and step away from the sink." She used her best cowboy voice, then moseyed over and stuck her hand in the soapy water. She pulled out the plug and sat it on the backsplash. "You're all wet."

"I dropped a glass and it splashed me." I took the dishcloth and dabbed at my shirt.

"Perfect excuse for me to show you my tub." She led me down the hall, though the door at the end.

Her bedroom was amazing. The entire outer wall was glass with a wrought iron balcony on the other side. I walked to the glass sliding doors and stared out at a small garden. In the moonlight, it was a scene from a haunted dream, all misty and shadowy.

Iza was in the bathroom, rummaging in the linen closet. She placed towels and a washcloth on the corner of a gigantic whirlpool bathtub as I entered. The tub looked like it could've held four people comfortably.

"There's shampoo, soap, and bath salts in the cabinet under the sink. Help yourself. I'll put your clothes in the dryer when you get them off." She closed the bathroom door.

I went to the high-polished, black marble counter, opened the cabinet, and found all kinds of girly bath products. I sifted through the shower gels and picked one that smelled of roses. The scent filled the bathroom, as I poured it into the steaming water in the tub. I placed the bottle on the floor and went back to the cabinet. This time, I pulled out shampoo and conditioner and put them on the side of the tub.

I stripped off my wet clothes, removed the tape on my side, and tossed my clothes into a pile on the floor. As I grabbed the washcloth, I slid into the hot water. I laid my head back, stretching out. The water swirled, covering me like a frothy blanket. It felt good, relaxing the muscles around my broken rib.

Vin's gorgeous eyes and sexy smile danced through my mind. The idea that someone wanted me, loved me, seemed like an old memory. My mother had loved me, unconditionally, a long time ago.

I sunk under the water, running my fingers through my hair, then I resurfaced, resuming my relaxed position. I closed my eyes, breathed deeply, and imagined the open field with the willow tree, where I'd really met Vin. As I got lost in the tranquil imagery, I fell asleep.

I was under the willow tree, the sun setting, and I wasn't alone. The black wolf was there, with a man, his hand on top of the wolf's head. They walked slowly toward me. The master was tall, with broad shoulders, and a muscular build. His face was unclear. There was no detail, everything blurred together like an impressionistic painting. I could hear shouting but couldn't make out words. My senses were dull.

Night fell, and I was no longer under the willow. Orange and red lights flickered around me. I lay on something cold and hard, and there was searing pain at my wrists and ankles. I tried to sit up, but something held me down. I clawed at the hard surface below me. I screamed, terrified. Tears spilled down my face.

One detail became clear in my limited perspective. Green eyes, the color of malachite crystal dominated my vision. The eyes were afraid, full of anguish. There was a connection between them and me, and I couldn't bare their suffering. Even in pain, I had an ardent wish to console them.The need was more potent than my own fear.

The eyes faded. _What's happening? _I thrashed, trying to free myself. _Please! _


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

"Lexi, what's wrong?" Iza banged on the bathroom door.

The water in the bathtub was cold, and my fingers and toes were wrinkled like little raisins. How long had I been asleep?

"Lexi?"

"I'm coming. Hang on." I stood, stepped out of the tub, and wrapped a towel around me. Then I opened the door. Iza held a nightgown, which she handed to me.

"I called Aiden and told him you'd be spending the night."

"Why?" I took the gown.

"It's midnight. You've been in there for two hours."

"Two hours? I'm _so_ sorry." I turned my back, letting my towel fall to the floor, then slipped into the nightgown and wrapped my hair in a dry towel. There was no point trying to explain about my crazy dream.

"You can sleep in the spare bedroom. You'll be my first guest." She smiled like an eager child, clapping her hands together and squeezing them tightly. Her pale green eyes beamed at me.

The eyes in my dream were dark green, the color or oak leaves or malachite stone. They flitted through my mind. Those eyes had looked at me as if we were acquainted. Actually, like we were more than acquainted. And the anguish in them…

"Hey, where'd you go?" Iza waved her hand in front of my face like she was checking for catatonia.

"Huh?"

She grabbed my left hand and led me out of her room and down the hall, stopping at a small closet door. She pulled out an extra pillow and blanket before opening the door directly across from the dinning room.

I stepped into the bedroom behind her and gasped. It was as large as Iza's. The only exception being the bathroom, which was small and equipped with a shower, no tub. Against the left wall was a four-poster cherry bed with roses carved into every inch of the wood. The bed sat high off the floor with a deep red satin comforter and too many decorative pillows. On the right side of the door, leading into the bathroom, was a dressing table with a tall mirror.

The outside wall wasn't glass like the one in Iza's room. Instead, there was a bay window with curtains that matched the comforter.

"I hope the sheets aren't scratchy. No one's ever slept on them, so the new feeling hasn't worn off." She walked to the bed, turned it down, then sat on the corner. Patting the space next to her, she gestured for me to sit.

I eased onto a luxuriously soft, pillow-top mattress.

"I'm glad you're staying. I get lonely here by myself."

I rested my head against her shoulder.

"I'll let you get some sleep. I'm exhausted myself." She got up and walked to the door. "I didn't get all the way through the notes."

"It's my fault. I shouldn't have fallen asleep."

"Don't worry about it. You obviously needed the rest." She pulled the door closed.

_Why am I so tired lately? Maybe my dreams are interfering with my rest. Or, I really am getting the flu. Crap. _

I crawled under the heavy comforter and melted into the fluffy mattress. There were no dreams or nightmares, only those eyes. The image of them was seared into my gray matter. I didn't know whose eyes they were or why I saw them. Surely, they were just an image my brain conjured up.

Iza drove me home the next morning, dropping me off at the end of the drive. I rounded the corner of my house.

Vin leaned against his motorcycle, arms folded over his chest and a devilish grin on his face. His black hair was blowing in all directions, a captive prisoner of the fateful wind.

I stepped back around the corner and waved to Iza glad she hadn't seen him. I didn't have energy for their verbal skirmishing.

Vin shifted his muscular form and extended a hand, bidding me to come. His dark blue button down shirt wasn't his normal attire, but I liked it. With the slightly unbuttoned collar and jeans, paired with boots, he was an image off the cover of GQ. But still, he'd broken my rib, then left me.

He came forward, wrapping both arms around me, gently. His eyes flamed as he bent down, sweeping his lips across mine and down to my jaw. The butterflies in my stomach multiplied, threatening to carry me right out of his arms. I banished those fluttery bastards. He wasn't getting off that easy.

"How're you feeling?"

I pushed away, stepping out of his embrace.

"Pissed." I glared at him. _No mercy._

He grinned, raising one eyebrow. "Is that a new symptom for a broken rib?"

"No it's a symptom of having an ass for a boyfriend." I would've crossed my arms over my chest, but that would've hurt. My left hand rested on my hip, the other hung by my side. I really needed to re-tape my rib.

"I said I was sorry. I know I shouldn't have left, but part of the shop caught fire. I _had_ to go." His hand cupped my face and he moved in close.

A fire unquestionably _was_ an emergency and the rib _had_ been an accident. "Did you loose anything?"

"The entire welding area. We were lucky non of the tanks exploded." His thumb stroked my cheek. "I don't want to talk about that place."

He kissed the sensitive skin behind my ear.

"Vin… I can't breath."

He changed the area of his attention. His lips met the flesh of my neck, and the dizziness manifested.

I was going to faint. "Stop."

"Hush. Enjoy it." He pulled down the collar of Iza's sweater, then nipped me, just above my collarbone.

I tingled from my insides to the tips of my hair, fingers, and toes. My vision waivered, and I swayed on my feet. The blackness was coming. Vin locked an arm around me, supporting me. Having to choose between consciousness and the amatory sensation his lips invoked in me wasn't fair.

"You've got to stop. I'm…" The swirling blackness took over and enveloped my senses.

I had no idea how much time passed, but when I opened my eyes, he had me in his arms, carrying me into the living room.

"You sure know how to make me feel more than adequate in my abilities to make the opposite sex swoon. All it takes is a couple of kisses, and there you go." He dropped a light kiss on my head forehead.

What was going on? Why did this keep happening? It only happened when I was with Vin. He couldn't be drugging me. There had never been anything for him to spike. _No, I'm being ridiculous again. It's the flu. Vin being around is just a coincidence. _

Vin's eyes glowed with a reddish hue and his pupils were dilated. I'd seen them turn that color previously, the last time he'd kissed me into a brief coma. The color was so unusual. I kept trying to remember if I'd ever seen it before.

How humiliating, passing out every time we had a make out session. I knew my cheeks were a brilliant shade of red, but I couldn't feel the heat that usually accompanied the blush. Pressing a palm against my face, I felt cool and wax-like.

"I love how your eyes turn a pale blue right before your cheeks flush." He sat me down on the couch.

The room was revolving, the darkness trying to creep back in. I swayed, and everything tilted. As I fell over, my head almost smacked into the arm of the couch. Vin caught me, easing me down into a lying position.

He ran a hand over my forehead and down my cheek. I hated the feeling of losing control, but I couldn't stop it.

Vin was muttered to himself, shaking his head. "Just a little. No more. Stupid."

What he said didn't make sense. "What?"

"Nothing. Can I get you something? A glass of water?"

"The quilt on the back of the recliner would be nice."

He laid it on my legs, but I had to spread it out myself, because he was staring blankly out the window.

"What is it?" I reached for him through my swirling haze, but he was too far away. Why was he suddenly so distracted?

"I have to go." He didn't look at me.

Before I could protest, he was across the room and out the door.

What had I said or done that made him want to leave? All my insecurities reared their oppressive heads, screaming. I refused to listen to them.

I got up and shuffled into my bedroom. As I glanced in the dresser mirror, I saw dark purple rings under my eyes. Obviously, this _was _the flu.

Rest was best, and fluids, but I wasn't thirsty. I wobbled to the bed and curled up on top of the comforter. It was still early morning, but I felt drained.

As I drifted off, Aiden thudded about the house. Why he was home from work so early?

He tapped on the open door to my room before entering. "Hey. No class today?"

"Columbus Day." I didn't face him, because he'd freak at the sight of me. He'd have me in an ER before I could object.

"You ok?"

"I'm coming down with something. Relapse of what I had the other day."

"You want me to go get some Sprite?"

Mother had given it to us when we were sick. It was suppose to settle a queasy stomach.

"No, I just want to sleep. Why are you home anyway? I thought you were working."

"Wood floorin' didn't arrive on time. Get some sleep." He left the door open a crack.

I closed my eyes, but the spinning didn't stop. I pulled my blanket around me and allowed sleep to take me.

"Wake up. Aiden says you've been asleep since yesterday morning. He's worried about you and so am I. You missed lecture." Iza was perched beside me on my bed, gently stroking my temple, her eyebrows raised, her mouth an upside down half-moon.

"I missed lecture?" I sat up, throwing the comforter off. There was no light streaming in between the open curtains of my window. "What time is it?"

"Seven thirty."

I'd slept over twenty-four hours.

"Aiden said you were sick again. Then he told me how long you'd been asleep." The corners of her eyes crinkled when she said Aiden's name.

"I got sick after you dropped me off Monday morning." Leaving out the part about Vin was simply a wise decision, not a lie of omission.

"You should see a doctor. I can take you to the student clinic."

"I feel better." I tried to stand, vertigo ensued, and I slid off the bed onto the hardwood floor.

She stared down at me sternly. "Yes, you're very convincing, _as a rag doll_."

"Sarcasm. Now?" I shot her a disapproving look.

"It's another service I provide. Come on. We're going to the clinic." She hoisted me back onto the bed.

My legs were like partially cooked noodles, and I wasn't sure I had control over them. "I'm not going to the clinic. I can treat it myself and save the money."

My ER wasn't an option. Dr. Anderson was off rotation, which meant Dr. Dell was covering and he would charge his own mother for a Band-Aid.

"Clinic visits are free for students. They covered it in orientation."

"I was reading our physiology textbook in orientation." I lay down again, curling up. "I'm still not going. It's the flu. It wants sleep and fluids, then it'll leave quietly."

Her eyes narrowed and the muscles of her neck became taut. She crossed her arms. "I can see it now. You in the hospital with invasive lines jutting out of you."

I rolled my eyes.

"Your hair will be in impossible knots, because it's so long no one can brush it with you laying on it, and the pungent odor. Wow." She emphasized the last by pinching her nose. "It'll cost a fortune."

She had me.

"Fine. I'll go. You can be _such_ a drama queen." I thumped her arm, then started the slow process of getting to my feet.

"Normally I'd say let's get you out of those pajamas before we go anywhere in public, but under the circumstances… I think it's a better idea to get you in the car."

I stood with Iza's help, but I swayed back and forth. No way I'd walk anywhere on my noodle legs.

"Maybe we should wait until morning." I sat on the edge of my bed to fend off the collapse I felt coming.

"You're not getting out of this." She pranced out of the room.

I could hear her crystal-humming voice in the living room and, suddenly, realization set in. _Oh no. Aiden is not carrying me._

Unfortunately, there was nothing I could do. She came back with him. He scooped me into his arms, then made his way through the house and out the back door. She opened the car door, and he laid me on the backseat.

His mouth twisted into a frown. "Ya should've told me you needed a doctor."

Iza handed him my quilt, which he placed over me, tucking it in around me so I was enclosed in a cotton cocoon. There was no reason for the production, but they weren't going to accept anything less than my full cooperation, and I had no energy to resist them. All I could do was pray the humiliation ended quickly.

I closed my eyes and listened to the two of them talk.

"She didn't tell me it was this bad. I knew she was sick and all, but I figured she'd say something if she needed a doctor. I should'a known better," Aiden said, apprehension in his voice.

"It's not your fault," Iza said.

"Sorry we didn't get to have dinner tonight. I worked so hard slavin' over that hot stove, too."

He'd cooked? Thank God they weren't having dinner. Aiden burned everything. He'd cooked chicken and dumplings once, from scratch. There had been a single human-head-sized, burnt dumpling, instead of lots of fluffy dumplings, and it'd tasted like baking soda. They would've needed a doctor, too.

Iza giggled. "Maybe we can have breakfast?"

An uncomfortable silence lingered for a minute, before either of them spoke again.

"I'm not use to girls bein' so forward. I'm not easy ya know."

Their laughs bounced around the small space.

"Pull in here," Iza said.

Aiden made a quick turn and I nearly rolled onto the floorboard. I opened my eyes and looked up in time to see him let go of Iza's hand and get out.

Suppressing a smile, I pretended the car door opening woke me. No one was at the front desk when Aiden carried me in.

We waited for a few seconds before a gorgeous guy, who curiously resembled Iza, came to triage me. He wore light blue scrubs and no name tag. How much more embarrassment could I take? Hot guy meets pitiful, sick girl. It sounded like a romantic comedy.

_Wait… I know him. The hot guy from the bank, he picked up my papers. Great. This really sucks now. _

Dr. Gorgeous motioned for us to follow him. "Izabell, I thought you were going to be at home tonight."

"You two know each other?" I asked, my voice weak.

"Lexi, Aiden, this is my brother, Connor. He's a doctor. Helps run the clinic in his spare time. Connor, this is my friend Lexi and her brother, Aiden."

"Very nice to make your acquaintance," Dr. Weatherstar said.

"I was at home, until Aiden asked me to come check on Lexi."

Aiden readjusted me in his arms.

Dr. Weatherstar gestured to the stretcher in the exam room where he'd led us. "She can lie down there."

Aiden placed me on the stretcher, and I drew up the covers. Iza laid my quilt over the thin hospital linens and tucked me in.

"Thanks for seein' her," Aiden said. He shook Dr. Weatherstar's hand.

"You're most welcome, but we see all students."

Aiden and Iza took seats next to the small window and watched as Connor examined me. He pulled back the covers so he could listen to my lungs and heart. He never touched me, except with the stethoscope. Maybe he was afraid of catching my virus?

After taking my vitals, his expression changed. His mouth was a hard line, his jaw thrust forward, and his hands balled into fists. "She'll need a couple units of blood. I'll keep her here overnight to monitor her for a transfusion reaction, and I'll draw some blood to test for infections."

Aiden rubbed his forehead, which was creased. "What's the matter with her?"

"I believe this is simply a case of severe anemia," he said. He made a note in a chart.

"I've never had a problem with anemia before," I said. "You sure it isn't the flu?"

"Yes, I'm sure," he said, then snapped the chart shut and left the room.

"There are several reasons you could be anemic," Iza said. "It's more common in females than males for obvious reasons."

"At least he can fix ya up."

Dr. Weatherstar returned with a needle and syringe, a couple of blood collection vials, and an intravenous access kit.

"I'm gonna take a walk, not good with blood," Aiden said. He stood, placed a light kiss on my cheek, then marched out.

Dr. Weatherstar drew my blood and initiated my IV. I barely felt the pricks. Then he started my fluids and left to get the first unit of blood.

Aiden strode in and handed Iza a bottled Coke. "How'd it go?"

"No trouble." I flashed my plastic IV catheter at him. He got a little pale and gaged. I laughed. Iza covered her mouth, trying not to giggle.

Having an audience when I was sick was as embarrassing as walking out in public with my skirt tucked into my underwear, but I couldn't get them to leave. Aiden was in full overprotective, big brother mode, and Iza wouldn't desert either of us.

Dr. Weatherstar came back with a unit of blood. "It'll take a couple of hours for each unit to infuse. You two should go home and get some rest."

"I'm not leavin' her here alone." Aiden folded his flexed arms.

Dr. Weatherstar gauged him, shifting his weight. "Unfortunately, visitors are not aloud to stay overnight."

"You aren't making me leave," Aiden said. He glared at the doctor.

"I _will_ call security." Dr. Weatherstar sat the unit of blood on a nearby table and took out his cell phone.

"Wait." I held up my index finger at the doctor, then looked at Aiden. "You're going home. I'll be fine. I really don't want an audience."

He opened his mouth to argue, but Iza took him by the arm and pulled him to the door. He grumbled all the way out the room.

"Thanks Dr. Weatherstar."

"You're most welcome. Please call me Connor." He connected the IV tubing to the blood bag, placed it on a pole and through an IV pump, then pressed a few buttons. "I'm assuming you've never had a blood transfusion before?"

"Never."

"If you become itchy or have problems breathing, notify me immediately."

"Sure." I held out the arm with the IV catheter.

When he connected the tubing to my catheter, his fingertips grazed my skin. I was instantly paralyzed. He stopped and gazed up with eyes as green as Magnolia leaves. My heart fluttered like hummingbird wings, and it felt like an electrical current shot down my spine.

Connor was good-looking, tall with wide shoulders, narrow hips, and plenty of muscle. His ash bond hair was just long enough to fall onto his forehead, but he had it brushed back. His eyes were perfectly spaced under a firm brow and his lips… _Stop this._

My mind raced. He was my doctor, Iza's brother, and off limits.

He taped the IV tubing to my arm without touching me, then pressed another button on the pump. The cool blood infused into my catheter. "How did you fracture your rib?"

"Huh?" I didn't feel anything but the electricity sparking through my body.

"Your ribs are tapped up on the right side. I heard the tape crackle through my stethoscope, when I was auscultating your lungs."

"My boyfriend hugged me too hard." _Oh my God… Vin._ For a brief moment I'd forgotten him. What was wrong with me?

"Really _nice_ guy." He picked up the trash from the IV tubing he'd primed and threw it into a nearby trashcan. "Does it hurt?"

"Not anymore."

His eyes were slits. Maybe it was because I'd thrown out the boyfriend word? "Iza said you were exceptionally smart."

"Excuse me?"

He leaned against the doorjamb. "You should know better than to remain in an abusive relationship."

"What?" I clenched my teeth, feeling my jaw pop. He had no right to be judgmental about someone he didn't know. "It was an accident."

It _was _an accident.I wouldn't believe Vin a killer simply because of his troublemaker persona, an accident, and blackouts caused by anemia. If I did, I'd be no better than the people who had discriminated against Aiden and me because we were foster kids.

"I'm sure it was." He turned to leave. "Do you know the force required to squeeze a person hard enough to break a rib?"

"Not off the top of my head."

"More than a human can generate by hugging."

I rolled my eyes, even though he couldn't see me. "Maybe your source is wrong."

"Or, you're with the wrong guy." He walked out, taking all the oxygen in the room with him.


End file.
